We were lucky to catch up with Torrence Ford recently and have shared our conversation below.
Torrence, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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?
In 2017 I was able to start my own real estate firm after being licensed in Real Estate for 15 Years. I made the choice because I realized that i had a talent to motivate, inspire, and coach others thru my experience of being an age group swim coach for 10+ years. Looking back I think that i made the right choice because after starting my firm i had my previous brokerage Berkshired Hathaway reach back out to me twice to offer me a dream job of being a broker for their firm in which i would have never imagined prior. I also knew it was a good decision because I had other firms knocking on my door to shut down and merge with them locally in Atlanta. Since opening i have learned all about hiring, letting staff or agents go, when to push, when to pull, and also when to say “No” as a business owner. In 2021 we were able to achieve 3 corporate awards in 1 year with Office Manager of The Year Award, Eagle Award, and Brokerage of The Year Award as well! In 2022 we were able to grow to 40 agents with over $62,000,000 in Sales Volume.
Torrence, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I attended Florida A&M University as a business finance major. I came out of colleged and worked for Accenture LTD as an analyst for 2 years before realizing that I wanted more. I wanted to bring more value. I wanted to see others happy around me, and I also wanted to have the ability to have more savings for myself after a month of paying bills after just buying my first home at the age of 23. My realtor at the time suggested that I get my license, and I did just that. To keep my sanity of having a commission only job i coached swimming in the evenings starting out earning 13.00 per hr which grew to a 30k salary annually over a 10 year run. After 10 years in real estate i learned the value of relationships which allowed me to then work by referral keeping my phone rining every 2-3 days with new opportunities and families to assist. I’m mostly proud that every year since 2005 i have been able to level up my sales year over year minus the 1 year of 2008 that took most business owners down. I think that the one think that I want others to know is that it’s not about what you know but about how much you care. If you double down on that statement then your business will thrive beyond measure because people will see you work hard for them without having any expectations thus returning a bountiful flow of referrals in the future.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In 2008 I partnered with an investor and raised nearly $129,000 from 6 people for that individual to invest monies into what i thought were real estate projects at an early age. This person also assited me in getting bank lines of credit in which we used those funds to invest in real estate as well. After 8 months of broken promises i was never paid back on those loans and was forced to file for bankruptcy. I had to empty my retirement account from corporate america to pay my largest investor back 52k. This left me with $100.00 to my name. From this moment credit scores were down to 548 , and i had my back against the wall. From that moment i had to put my feet on the floor every morning, put on a smile, and go to work with the fearlessness like i never had before. After 2 years of hard work i was able to : Save 87k , buy my wife a new car, open new credit again, and purchase a new consruction home putting down 76k. After closing on this home i had 8k left to my name and was able to build my family back. Since then I have been able to continue to clime the ladder and grow beyond measure with investments, contracts, and more. The moral of the story is that every successful person has a cool story of where they hit rock bottom and if you can get them to share that story you will learn the real person!
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Best Source of Clients has still been by referral.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soldbytorrence/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/torrence.ford/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/torrence-ford-044152a
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@torrenceford4663
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/@the404live3/videos