July 2, 2025Suneet and Nick remind us that real estate’s still that tree that has fruit on it — you just need to get your ladder, climb up, and pick it before someone else does. In this no-fluff conversation, they break down exactly how top team leaders keep stacking listings daily, why building three-to-one employees is a must, and how smart operators self-fund their growth instead of chasing expensive loans. They share how to tighten your unique selling propositions, track where every deal really comes from, and leverage AI recruiting bots and the Script Inferno to sharpen your team’s edge. If you want clear, real-world strategies to pick fruit others miss — listen in, get loud, and stay ahead of the competition.
Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Real Estate’s Tree Full of Deals
- 00:00:27 – Kickoff: Inside the Reside Platform
- 00:01:11 – Wenatchee’s Market Pulse: What’s Shifting
- 00:01:32 – Sellers vs. Buyers: Who’s Worth More Now
- 00:01:49 – Why Motivated Buyers Are Gold
- 00:01:58 – Luxury Listings: Crickets or Cash Cows?
- 00:03:17 – Big Plays: Developers & Private Equity Moves
- 00:04:00 – Google Reviews & Winning Online
- 00:04:14 – Smart Loans & Educated Buyers
- 00:06:07 – How Reside Runs: Daily Ops Behind the Scenes
- 00:07:30 – Track It All: Where Deals Really Come From
- 00:08:53 – Building a Thriving Reside Community
- 00:11:17 – Real Leadership & Real Growth
- 00:11:59 – Next-Level Agent Training
- 00:13:33 – Script Inferno: Reps, Mastery, Results
- 00:15:34 – AI Tools & Smarter Recruiting
- 00:16:10 – Nail the ALM Appointment Every Time
- 00:16:39 – ISAs: Your Secret Lead Weapon
- 00:17:08 – Bots, Calls & the Future of Recruiting
- 00:18:33 – Bookkeeping: Unexpected Edge for Teams
- 00:19:16 – Growing One Leader at a Time
- 00:20:28 – Cash Reserves: Sleep Better, Scale Faster
- 00:22:31 – Why Smart Leaders Self-Fund
- 00:24:26 – USPs: Win Sellers & Buyers Fast
- 00:26:07 – Wrapping Up: What’s Next at Reside
Links and Resources:
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Episode breakdown: picking the fruit in a shifting market
Suneet Agarwal, President & Co-Founder of Reside Platform, and co-founder Nick McLean recorded this catch-up on June 9. Nick runs his business in Wenatchee, Washington, where inventory is rising and outpacing demand. The two walk through how they’re adjusting to that market, how Reside trains agents, and the money habits that keep a team leader making good decisions.
Know which side of the market is worth more right now
Nick’s team tends to target sellers, always. But with buyer demand falling, a motivated, qualified buyer has become very valuable. In his market, anything over $1 million, about two times the average sales price, moves slowly. At three times the average sales price there are 30 months of inventory, and he describes that tier as crickets.
Business is still coming from other places. His team is working with developers and investors backed by private equity groups who are buying land to build, including a 41-lot subdivision the team just landed. Those buyers found the team on Google through their own market research, and Nick credits five-star Google reviews. He has also brought back lender training his team had dropped. Agents are learning loan programs again, including down payment assistance, three-to-one and two-to-one buydowns and lender-paid credits, so they can educate buyers.
Trace every new client back to its source
Nick tells a story from a morning meeting with Reside’s operations staff. Paul, Reside’s salesperson, mentioned a new appointment that had come in that day. The team immediately went into the CRM, the traffic data, the tracking links and the pixels to find out where it came from. They asked whether it came from a mailing list, a webinar or organic search.
When you get business, a client raising their hand, reaching out to you, you need to dive down into that source.
Nick McLean
Suneet points out that a lead from a portal like Zillow didn’t find you. Organic traffic is different, and he says he thinks about how to get more of it all day long. Nick’s view is that the number one job of a team leader is eyeballs: being loud and posting.
Train agents on narrow skills with lots of reps
Reside added Script Inferno about six months before this episode because agents loved the training but needed the reps. Each week’s role play takes one segment of the business and goes deep. One week might be calling a listing agent to learn the seller’s motivation. Another might be one part of the listing presentation. Nick compares it to a pianist learning a new song in bite-size chunks.
The same thinking shows up in how they review calls. Nick says weak performance usually comes down to a lack of very specific questions or not going for the appointment. Suneet runs all of his team’s calls in Follow Up Boss through AI, and his ISAs do 30 minutes of AI voice role play each day. He also warns leaders to check local laws before using a recruiting bot to call agents.
Keep reserves so stress doesn’t make the decisions
When Nick asks how much money a team leader needs in the bank to step out of production, both land on a year of personal reserves. Nick adds six months of fixed costs for the business. Suneet suggests three months may be enough on the business side. Marketing can be cut when times get tough, but cutting people is hard to undo.
Nick says leaders under stress make bad decisions. They fall behind and spend more trying to get out. He gives the example of someone who wanted to borrow money to buy leads.
So you’re telling me all you need to do is list and sell 10 homes and you made your loan?
Nick McLean
The loan the person wanted was $120,000. Applying took time and energy, and a loan comes with costs and interest. Prospecting tools cost far less. By their rough numbers, a dialer runs about $100 a month and neighborhood phone numbers about $60 a month.
You know, real estate’s still that tree that has fruit on it. You just have to go and pick it.
Nick McLean
Drill one USP for sellers and one for buyers
Suneet wants every agent to know at least two unique selling propositions, one for sellers and one for buyers. Nick turns that into a meeting. Write one seller USP and one buyer USP on a whiteboard, go around the room, and have everyone repeat them perfectly before they go home. He says when he asks agents for their buyer USP, he hears “trust” and “good communication.” For sellers, he hears “accurate pricing.” Neither, he says, is the answer.
Key takeaways for team leaders
- Keep targeting sellers, but treat a motivated, qualified buyer as valuable in a slowing market.
- Ask for Google reviews. Developers and investors research online before they call.
- Bring back financing education when buyers need help qualifying.
- Trace every inbound client to the channel that produced it.
- Train one narrow skill a week and give agents the reps to master it.
- Build personal and business reserves before you need them, and self-fund growth through prospecting when you can.
