We recently connected with Brendan Gail and have shared our conversation below.
Brendan, appreciate you joining us today. Early in your career, how did you think through the decision of whether to start your own firm or join an established firm?
When I decided to join VS Real Estate – it was called Priority Estates Realty back then – as a Licensed Real Estate Agent it was because my wife and I bought our house in San Diego with the founders of VS Real Estate. I had previous experience selling and buying homes both in San Diego and Tucson with a few different Realtors. Some of the Realtors were better than others, but overall the sense I got was that it’s a tough business. From my perspective, it’s challenging to find clients and difficult to differentiate yourself as a quality Realtor, not just one that spends tons of money on marketing. While I always loved the idea and am completely fascinated by the industry, I could never answer the question ‘how am I different from all the other Realtors out there’? I knew that if I were to become a Realtor I would have to figure out a way to stand out from an already saturated market place. The start to that was by joining the small, but highly reputable team at VS Real Estate. When we worked with my now partners Rick and Marcos to buy our San Diego home, it was all about feel (and of course their expertise). We never felt uncomfortable; we never felt like we were being ‘sold’ and that mattered to us. Unfortunately, Realtors are one of the most untrusted professions with only Lawyers, Car Salespeople, and members of Congress lower on the list. Buying our house with VS Real Estate felt like we had family friends helping us solve all of our problems. It felt amazing. Easy even. It was my realization then that I could be the type of Realtor I wanted to be. Someone who makes others feel comfortable and empowered when buying or selling their home. And the rest they say is history.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I spent the majority of my childhood in a loving San Diego home raised by my mom and Stepdad Josh. Josh married my mom when I was five years old, making him a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My biological Dad, Barry, and my beautiful stepmom Sheri lived an hour north in Newport Beach. I remember how lucky I felt to have two sets of parents who loved me growing up as a kid. I thought having two Christmases was the coolest thing in the world! My childhood was full of so much laughter and fond memories with my brothers and sisters in each home. I was naïve to the challenges life can bring – how every child should grow up. At 10 years old, my family received devastating news. My mom, a healthy and active 38-year-old, had cancer. The naivety of my childhood vanished, and life hit me full force. Over the next 15 years, I watched the strongest woman I know beat cancer twice, but she would not survive it a third time. At 52 years old, we received the news that her cancer was terminal and she had less than 2 years to live. I was 24 at the time, living in Los Angeles. I recently graduated with my master’s degree and was working in collegiate athletics. At this point in my life, I was passionate about sports and living a healthy lifestyle. I enjoyed teaching college-age kids about responsibility, life, work ethic, and leadership. I threw my time and emotional energy I had into work to keep myself busy and distracted from my personal life. My mom continued to fight and felt determined to outlive her diagnosis.
Late one night I heard a knock on my front door. I opened the door to find my childhood best friend standing on my porch with a look of dread in his eyes. “What is it? Is mom, okay?” I asked. “It’s your dad Josh. He took his own life. He’s gone, Brendan. I’m so sorry”. My world stood still. This was my initiation into the tragedy of death, something I would soon become familiar with.
Over the next 6 years, I would lose my mom, my grandpa, and my Yia Yia. I sold my childhood home, packed my things, and moved to Tucson, AZ to start a new job. As I continued to move up the ladder in collegiate athletics, I was no longer working and helping the people I wanted to help and was feeling less and less fulfilled by my work. Thankfully my luck was about to change. I met my future wife, and she immediately rocked my boat, pushing me to exit my comfort zone. I quit my job and sold my house and 8 months after we started dating, we boarded a flight to New Zealand. We left the states on a 3-month adventure to circumnavigate the globe… but that’s a story for another time. After we returned home to San Diego, all I wanted to do was have a long conversation with my mom. She had always known me best. I needed that sounding board in this time of transition. I was 33 years old and had left a great job in a career that I had been in for the past 10 years. I was floundering and worried I would never find my calling. My wife was insistent that I become a realtor. I had floated the idea a couple of times in the past. Candidly, I struggled with the idea of working on 100% commission. I brushed her off thinking there was no way I could succeed in the already saturated industry. It was my Father-In-law’s belief in me that hit home. He had started and owned his own successful automotive shop for 33 years. He started it from the ground up and his shop excelled because of his work ethic and ability to build relationships. “Brendan, you’re passionate about Real Estate, and you’re so good with people. You work hard. It’s a slam dunk.” His words of encouragement hit me at my core. It was words that I could hear my mom telling me. His unwavering belief in me ignited the flame and set off a chain reaction. Finding out my wife was pregnant with our first child turned the burner up too high. I was now armed with incredible motivation to provide for my family and in a field that I was passionate about. With the confidence from my father-in-law and my wife, I hit the ‘buy’ button on the Real Estate courses. That was 5 years ago.
I grew up in two beautiful homes with even more beautiful people. So many of my favorite life memories were shared in the confines of these homes. A home, I learned, is so much more than just a house. It’s the place where unique, shared experiences take place with the people you love.
Time with loved ones is not guaranteed. I can’t get my mom, Dad Josh, Gramps, or my Yia Yia back, but I will never forget the memories we shared in that home. My main drive for being a realtor is so much more than buying and selling houses or making money. I want to help families find a special place where they will create their own lasting memories. I love helping find the ‘house,’ but it’s your family that makes it ‘home.’
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new clients for me is my past clients! I’m a firm believer that there’s a realtor for everyone. For me, it’s about finding the best fit for both parties. The ‘perfect’ clients typically come from either my immediate network or my past clients’ immediate networks. The process of buying/selling a home is intense and emotional. It’s likely the biggest asset any of us own and my clients are trusting me to guide them through it all. Getting a past client’s referral is the greatest compliment and I always, always promise to treat my clients like family.
I’ve found the second best way for me to find clients is via social media. I think most of my clients started to get to know me and feel comfortable through my Instagram or Facebook before we actually chatted on the phone or met in person. I think it’s critical to convey on these social media platforms that first and foremost, it’s not all about Real Estate for me. I have an incredible wife, Shelby, and 4 kids under 4! Second, I want to help educate buyers and sellers. I want to help boost the industry overall and build more trust between the general public and Realtors.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
Fostering brand loyalty starts with the initial experience. This experience between myself and a new client has to be as positive as possible. Otherwise my clients would never recommend or use me again to buy or sell their homes. One of the differentiators between me and other agents is that I have the heart of a teacher. I enjoy explaining and laying out all options before we move forward. One of my biggest fears is that my client ‘didn’t know’ about something. If you don’t have a knowledgeable or communicative realtor, it can be easy for the client to miss something while there are 50 things happening at once. This is why I rely on my two signature processes, my Luminosity Method for my clients who currently own and want to upsize, and my Salt Water System for my first time buyers. These processes lay out every single step of the process and help eliminate the stress that’s involved in buying or selling a home. As far as staying in touch with my clients, I post daily if not multiple times a day on social media, with educational content in regards to real estate. I send out a monthly newsletter which includes a market report and my blog where I give my past and future clients a look into my personal life.
I hear from many of my clients looking for referrals about all things homeownership. I have a huge list of local contacts in San Diego that I’m always happy to refer my clients to, be it painters, roofers, plumbers, CPA’s, windows, pest control… the list goes on!
I also send texts and make calls to clients when things come up randomly that I think they’ll specifically find interesting. I love hearing about their life in their new homes. It’s why I do what I do!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bgailhomes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bgailhomes/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bgailhomes/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendangail/