Get ready to be F.I.R.E.D U.P! In today's episode, we have Lynea Carver. A Realtor, Dream Home Matchmaker, Body Builder, & PNW Native. She is known for being intensely honest and direct, fearless and consistent, educational and informative. Today, we are going to talk about how a mindset can affect your success. So sit back and enjoy the show.
Krista Mashore:
Are you ready to be fired because I've got Lynea Carver and she is crushing it. That's right, she's crushing business right now, getting listings like nobody's business even in this crazy market. So if you're ready to get fired up and learn what the secret sauce is, then stick around.
Krista Mashore:
Lynea, welcome. Thanks for being here. I'm so happy to have you.
Lynea Carver:
Hi. I'm so excited to be here. I always love talking to you, though.
Krista Mashore:
I know. I was really excited about… This is probably the most energy I've had all day. I'm not even kidding you because I'm like, “Yeah, I get to interview Lynea. I'm so happy.” Lynea is one of my students and she is just absolutely crushing life. I'm going to let her tell you about where she's from, all of her stats, and what she is doing right now that's working for her in this crazy market that we're all experiencing.
Lynea Carver:
Oh boy. The market is crazy, that is for sure. I am actually in the Seattle area. I'm a little south of Seattle. I've been in the business for a little over three years, but it's actually kind of a longer story because I grew up in the business. My parents, they were into rehab and flipping properties. My mom's been an agent for the last 30 years, so I've kind of grown up around the business, so to say I've only been in the business for three years is kind of a misnomer, except for the fact that I didn't go into business with my mom from the beginning. So I got my license and she and I just worked together on some things, and she just gave me tips and advice and really let me go out and build my brand. So when I got my license in 2018, I didn't have any business for six months. Six months, nothing. I was like, “Oh my gosh.” I remember walking around trying to clean up the yard. My husband was going to go mow the lawn, and I'm sitting there telling myself, “All I need is one. I just need one deal. That's all I need is the momentum and I can keep going.”
Lynea Carver:
I don't know, it was a couple months later maybe, I don't know what it was. I was at a party and I walked around. It was people I already knew and I had business cards with me. I had never done this before. I don't know why I hadn't, but I walked around and I was like, “Okay, you guys. Just remember I'm in real estate. If you know anyone who is looking to buy or sell a home, I'd love you to keep me in mind.” I walked around and handed out business cards to everybody, and I actually forgot one couple. I was out of cards, and the couple, he says to me, “Well, what about me? I want a card.” So it's actually interesting because three weeks later he called and he was like, “Hey, we're actually looking to buy a house.” I was like, “Yes! Okay, it's just the one I needed.”
Lynea Carver:
So 2019 was my very first transaction. I actually did just by doing that same thing, just asking for business from people I knew going after my sphere of influence, I did nine-ish, nine transactions my first year. Not bad.
Krista Mashore:
That's good, yeah.
Lynea Carver:
I mean, I was pretty proud of that. It was a little under $5 million, and considering on average agents do six per year, I was like, “Okay, I'm above average. Here we go.” I like to be above average. So 2019 was great, but I started to realize at the same time while I was doing real estate, I was also doing a corporate job. So I was like, “I can't do this.” I can't be kind of half in either place. I've got to be all in one place, so I put a plan in place to actually get out of my corporate job by the end of 2019, and I did. So I made enough money in 2019 to really just kill it with those nine transactions. I made a lot of money, enough to put enough aside, pay off my bills and just be okay, and get my husband to support me in leaving and going after real estate full-time. So I came into real estate full-time actually in 2020. So I just finished up my first full year as a full-time agent in real estate.
Lynea Carver:
Anyway, so 2020 comes around and then what happens, right? I quit my job in February and what happens?
Krista Mashore:
Corona.
Lynea Carver:
The world shuts down and I'm like, “Oh my gosh. What am I going to do?” So I had started to see this lady show up on my Facebook feed talking about how can you get… Just showing me how you can get leads online and how to really use Facebook as your resource. I was like, “What is she talking about?” And all of a sudden I started hearing she has this podcast called Fired Up and I started listening to her, and obviously it's you. And I just started listening, and I would listen every single day because I liked the podcasts because they were 20 minutes or less, and for me it's perfect because it's a good morning message. Just get me fired up in the morning. “Okay, let me see what she's doing?” You give a little bit here, you give a little bit of info, but I really wanted to know more.
Lynea Carver:
So then I got the book on how I sell 100 homes in a year. I read this book and I'm like, “Oh my gosh. How is she doing all this?” I mean, I just want to figure it out on my own. I tried to figure it out on my own, but I didn't, couldn't. So long story… Well, longer story, even longer, but I'll shorten it up a little bit. So the end May of last year I had done three transactions. I was like, “Okay, I feel good. I'm going to do okay.” But I really wanted to make sure that I wasn't one of those people who just got lost in 2020. I was like, there's got to be a way. So I actually joined your program in June, the beginning of June, I think, and by November of last year I had increased my sales price by almost $100,000. Prior to joining your program, my highest transaction was like $500,000. After joining our program, I had done three or four over $1.1 million. So that was kind of a big deal for me. Then my closings last year, I had four closings in the month of October last year. I was like, “What?” Four closings in October, that's incredible.
Lynea Carver:
So this year is a totally different story. I have to breathe for a second because I think about it and I'm like, “Oh my gosh. It's actually happening.” So I had set out for the end of this year to basically I wanted to make 500,000 in gross commissions because I was like, “Okay, why not?” I mean, I did 80,000 my first year. 2020, I did about 200,000. I'm like, “I can do 500.” So I set out to do $500,000 in gross commissions this year. I had set out to do 60% listings, 40% sales. I wanted to do a total of 52 transactions. And I was like, there's only one way to do that and that's you, that's by following what Krista says to do. So I'll just tell you, I have eight closings this month.
Krista Mashore:
Right now we are in the beginning of May and it's the pandemic, so that's eight closings. That's phenomenal in one month.
Lynea Carver:
Yep. Eight closings this month. I had all of my closings, two of my closings in April actually shifted, so I had six scheduled, but two shifted from April into May. But that means that this year I'll have closed to 12 or 13 transactions so far. My total sales volume is close to 10 million already. My goal for the year was 20 and I've already made over $200,000 in gross commissions, and that's not even looking at what I have coming into June and July and August, and who knows? I mean, we're not even halfway into the year yet, so that's kind of [crosstalk 00:07:52].
Krista Mashore:
Yeah. So tell us what you're doing. What's working for you?
Lynea Carver:
Okay. So I'm a firm believer in small steps because, by nature my hobby, I guess, I'm a bodybuilder. So for me, I'm all about the discipline, and I'm all about starting in one place and building that muscle until it's there, and you use that muscle to expand the next muscle and grow the next muscle. That's how you compete in bodybuilding and you have to be super disciplined. So for me, I took that same mentality from bodybuilding, which it's a second nature to me now, so now I don't really have to… I mean, I focus on it, but it's not something I have to learn anymore. It's there. I live, eat, breathe bodybuilding lifestyle. So what works for me is starting from step one, which was getting the mindset right. The first thing was really getting that mindset right, and believing that I can do $500,000 in gross commission, believing that I deserve it and believing that I have the steps in place and the talent and the skill to do it. So that was the first step.
Krista Mashore:
Act as if, too, right? Act as if.
Lynea Carver:
Yeah. I mean, I literally wake up every day and I follow a morning routine. I wake up every day and my goals are sitting on my mirror for me. They're sitting on five of my mirrors. It's sitting on my computer right here. But yeah, I just act as if I am a top 1% agent. I act as if I am going on four exotic vacations a year. I act as if my husband is retired. I already act as if all these things that I want are already happening.
Krista Mashore:
[crosstalk 00:09:24] going with us to Texas to the EXP event? Are you going to be there?
Lynea Carver:
I think so.
Krista Mashore:
That's an exotic vacation. Go there and we can meet each other. [inaudible 00:09:34], you're all invited to the EXP Convention. You [00:09:38] to be at the EXP. Tony Robins is speaking there. Just message me and I'll give you all the details because you are invited and we're going to have a great time.
Lynea Carver:
It does look like a lot of fun, I'll tell you that.
Krista Mashore:
You're going.
Lynea Carver:
And I really do like Texas, so there's that. But, I mean, that's what works. For me, just starting with one step and mastering it and making it so it's like… So every day, there's no option for me anymore. I don't even know how anymore to have a negative thought or to think that I don't deserve something at this point. So, if you take it beyond that, I mean, what works for me is definitely video content and video distribution and that's it. I'm not going to lie. I haven't even done probably 40%. I just started a ClickFunnel, okay? Just started a ClickFunnel, so I haven't even done 40% and it's just the energy that I put out there, and the way that I attract people, and just focusing on what's in front of me, mastering it and then going from there.
Krista Mashore:
Yes. And you surround yourself with a lot of great people as well. So you're creating video content. Talk to us about what kind of videos you're creating, how many, how often? Thank you.
Lynea Carver:
Okay. So let's talk about the type first. So type, I try to do a lot of off the cuff because I just like to be super authentic. Actually I have a series coming out right now and it's just all raw. Who's Lynea? What to expect. I'm actually doing my market update super raw, just off the cuff, just talking like this, so that's a lot of what I do.
Lynea Carver:
But I focus my content on what I want to attract. So I want to attract sellers. I want to attract sellers who are also buying, because for me, if I'm going to spend my time with clients, I want to make sure it's the maximum amount of time that I can spend because I love my clients. It's really hard when I have a closing day. It actually makes me very sad because I don't get to spend time with my clients anymore. So, that's what I focus on. That's the contents I put out there. I do some green screen. I use some of your scripts. I create some of my own scripts. I find content from other places like Keeping Current Matters, Realtor.com. I'm in all those other real estate websites. I find content and form those into video.
Krista Mashore:
Yeah, good. Good, good, good. Okay, so doing video content, now proper distribution. How much money are you spending on ads? Because obviously in order for the videos to be seen, you've got a property distribute them. You're targeting, you're retargeting, you're creating look alike audiences, correct, off from what you've learned in the program?
Lynea Carver:
Yep.
Krista Mashore:
What budget are you spending?
Lynea Carver:
I spend about 1800 a month on ads.
Krista Mashore:
1800 a month. Okay, well obviously it's paying off. You have eight closings in May.
Lynea Carver:
Well, I didn't start out that way. I started out spending just $5 a day. I started out just spending a little bit of money. I think my very first month I was spending maybe $200. As soon as I started getting more business, I was like, “Okay, let's just put a little bit more money behind it and see what happens.” That's pretty much what the budget is now.
Krista Mashore:
Yeah, so you gradually got up there. You're hitting up on your year anniversary here pretty soon.
Lynea Carver:
Yep, yep.
Krista Mashore:
Yeah, so that's good to hear. So you started off around 200 a month and we see that pretty average. Around 200, 250 is where people start, and they start to scale as they see their business start to succeed, exceed. Okay. Talk to me a little bit, because you're running the ads. Talk to me, but what other tools are you using and have you found to be successful? What other tools are you using to help? Once you get that lead, you get that client, how are you hitting it out of the ballpark?
Lynea Carver:
So once I get the client into my funnel, I'm obviously retargeting them on Facebook and retargeting it on wherever they go. It's actually a funny story. I had someone message me the other day and say that they saw my ad on Angry Birds. They were playing Angry Birds. They're like, “I keep seeing your ads. How are you in the middle of my Angry Birds game?” It was really funny. I was like, “Yay, it's working.” So I do that. But then I'm trying to stay super hyper-local, so I actually go and add those people into my neighborhood. I make sure they're on my neighborhood form. So then they're seeing me obviously online. They're seeing in their mailbox. From there, I actually do a lot of community videos based on where I'm at and then I target those to the same people.
Lynea Carver:
I also use my CRM to email out a BombBomb at least once a month to all of the leads. I say leads because I like to call them people. But all of the leads that came in from online, I send a BombBomb to them once a month. Sometimes it's a market update, but I don't want to be like every other realtor just sending out market updates, so I also try to send out community videos or community events, or just if I had something fun come up. I'll probably send them out the six signs it's time to sell your home. I'll probably get that in their email inbox, but that's kind of where I go from there. And then, of course, I'm calling them if I get the phone number, doing a CMA drop off if I get an address.
Krista Mashore:
So you basically went from selling eight, nine homes a year to selling, this month, eight homes in a month.
Lynea Carver:
Correct.
Krista Mashore:
How does that feel?
Lynea Carver:
God, my husband the other day, he's like, “I am planning for my retirement in the next couple of years.” His dream is to retire early. I'm like, “Okay, you can go ahead and retire early and I will still do what I love to do,” because, for me, this is just my passion and joy. So it feels pretty amazing, to be honest. The first time I ever stepped on a stage when I was doing a bodybuilding show, that was life-changing. It was very emotional. The first time I ever crossed a finish line after I ran a marathon was very emotional. I will say that being where I'm at today is right up there with those top major life events that I did.
Krista Mashore:
Oh, that's so cool. That's so good to hear. Do you feel like you're working more? Talk to me about the workload now that you're doing so well. Tell me a little bit about how you feel as far as your time and your workload. What systems are you using to keep yourself organized?
Lynea Carver:
Okay. Well, [Pomodoro 00:15:59] has changed my life. Changed my life. It's funny. Remember I told you I just now started a ClickFunnel?
Krista Mashore:
Yeah.
Lynea Carver:
Well, I just started Pomodoro two months ago, two or three months ago.
Krista Mashore:
[inaudible 00:16:10]. I should have [inaudible 00:16:12].
Lynea Carver:
It took me a long time. I'm just like, “Why did I waste all my time?” But it's literally changed my life. Having that set time every day to get things done has been really helpful. But you know what's also been super helpful? I hired an assistant, so I focus my time on creating content, getting out in my neighborhood, meeting people, following up with leads. That's where I focus my time on. Getting people in contract, obviously. Marketing homes, because I love, love marketing homes. It is just so much fun for me. So I focus my time on that kind of stuff and she focuses on ensuring that we're using our CRM to get in touch with people, that we're using our CRM to follow up with our clients during the transaction. She focuses on how I'm moving our clients from active to a past point and what that routine looks like. So I guess the system that I'm using is my assistant. She's amazing.
Krista Mashore:
That's good. That's good. What CRM are you using?
Lynea Carver:
We are using Realvolve right now.
Krista Mashore:
You're using Realvolve, okay. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. All this workflows and all that stuff are built in.
Lynea Carver:
Yeah.
Krista Mashore:
But aren't you going to be switching over to the [inaudible 00:17:25] Method anytime soon?
Lynea Carver:
Yes.
Krista Mashore:
Which is basically Realvolve, ClickFunnels, CRM workloads, transaction management all in one.
Lynea Carver:
Yeah, I just haven't done it yet only because I've just been super bogged down with clients and I'm like, “Okay, let's get a little bit of a breather for me to take on that.” Because before I teach my assistant something, I like to learn it because if she ever goes anywhere, I have to make sure I know what I'm doing.
Krista Mashore:
Absolutely. So now what about the person that's listening right now? They're like, “I'm a new agent and this won't work for me.” Or somebody that's like, “Oh, I'm already a top producer and I don't need to change what I'm doing.” What would your advice be?
Lynea Carver:
I mean, if you think you don't need to change something, there's probably something that needs to change because even if things are working as they are, unless you are perfectly fine and perfectly content and want to be exactly where you are, totally fine. You don't have to change anything is what I would say. But for me, I'm the type of person who is like, “How can I improve who I am today? How can I improve my life? How can I be grateful for everything that I've learned so far and take it to the next level?” I don't know if that actually answers the question. But for me, it's just kind of like if someone said they didn't really have anything to change, I would probably question why do you think you don't need to change anything? That's just doesn't fit in my nature very well.
Krista Mashore:
No, no. I love, I love it. Okay, and then anything else we didn't touch on that you want to touch on?
Lynea Carver:
I think the other thing that has been really, really awesome for me and for my business is having… You had mentioned earlier was surrounding yourself with a really good group of people. I think having that. Too often in the real estate business, and when I came into the business, I was like, “This is not going to be me.” But I feel like too often we try to get like me, me, me, me. I don't want to tell anybody what I do. I don't want to share my success. I don't want to share what I'm doing because, for whatever reason, it's that fear mentality. It's the whole scarcity mentality.
Lynea Carver:
So I think my point is that surrounding yourself with people who share success and who can be a mastermind, essentially, who can be those people who can tell you honest feedback about what you're doing great, where you could improve and all these things, I think that that has been a big, big factor to my success. It's kind of hard, and I think having that from… I have like my real estate bestie, who's two miles away from me, she's also… I met her through you, and there's a couple of other people in my direct market who are direct competitors. We actually see the same homes that each other sees. At some point we're probably going to go on a listing presentation together, and it's pretty cool to be able to have those people right at my fingertips and say, “Hey, are you noticing this in your market? What are you doing here? What are you doing here?” Just having that mastermind of people around is pretty awesome.
Krista Mashore:
The collaboration. Oh, I couldn't [inaudible 00:20:29] more. You are who you associate yourself with. Then lastly, one piece of advice, whether it's personal, professional, anything at all that you'd give to our listeners, what would that be?
Lynea Carver:
Believe in yourself. Because there's probably a lot of people out there who believe in you as much, but you may not know it. So I think for me, I've just always had to been that person who believes in myself. I don't really care what people think. I mean, I do care what people think. I don't want people to be offended. I don't want to hurt people's feelings. But when it comes to me and my actions, I don't care if people are… Kind of like your email said the other day. I think you sent an email out how you'll get comments on your posts, but you just got to kind of overlook that and believe in yourself, and believe in what you're doing, and believe in the message that you're sending.
Krista Mashore:
I love that. Lynea, thank you so much. It has been so nice to have you. You're just a ray of inner positive energy and sunshine and hope. I love that she ended it by saying believe in yourself, because that's so true. So thank you for being on here.
Lynea Carver:
Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. I love you. You know I'm a huge fan, so glad to be here.
Krista Mashore:
Well, I appreciate all you do. So look her up, Lynea. If you want to reach out to you to give you referrals, where should they go?
Lynea Carver:
You can find me on Facebook at Lynea, Carver. It's L-Y-N-E-A. Carver like the knife, like I'm a woodcarver. Find me on Facebook. Find me on Instagram. Find me on LinkedIn, or you can find my website, lyneacarver.com.
Krista Mashore:
She is definitely a true community market leader, so if you want to have your clients well taken care of, Lynea is your gal. Lynea, where are you at again?
Lynea Carver:
I am just south of Seattle.
Krista Mashore:
Just south of Seattle. Thank you, everyone. I hope you are just as fired up as I am after hearing Lynea. And remember, listening and learning is great, but implementation is key. I want to tell you how much I appreciate you spending this time with me. Make it a great day.
