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Recently, we saw the premiere of the latest installment to Bravo TV’s “Million Dollar Listing” series — this time set in San Francisco, with some of the hottest agents in the city battling it out for big listings.
Anybody who’s visited the “City by the Bay” knows that it has a unique, eclectic culture all its own — with a mixture of influences and high-ticket home prices that make real estate success all the more challenging.
The breakout star of this series is Roh Habibi — the Afghani-born son of wartime immigrants who has grown up with a deeply entrenched drive for success that he combines with a knowledge of real estate and finance as one of the city’s top producers.
Roh has captured the audience’s attention with a clean, almost hipster-inspired look that combines his dark features and full beard with plaid suits.
Different? Yes, but good taste and impeccable grooming makes his look work, and it’s given him a distinction that helps him stand out from the pack. This addition is a welcomed change from the clean-shaven stars in monochromatic navy-blue suits that frequent this series.
Roh joined us for an interview on our show, Real Estate Coaching Radio, the day after the new Bravo series premiered. We had the opportunity to speak with him about his background, drive for success and what led him into the spotlight on “MDLSF.”
“Well, I’m not just another pretty face and a hot body — I sell a lot of real estate,” Roh said. “You know, there are 4,100 agents in the San Francisco association, so they had a plethora of agents to choose from.
“What they told me was that they’re not looking for a cookie-cutter 60-year-old who sells $100 million a year. That’s not interesting. They wanted someone young and charismatic that they could grow with over a couple of seasons, and they found my backstory very interesting.”
Roh Habibi from Million Dollar Listing San Francisco
Roh was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, during the war between the nation and the former Soviet Union. His parents felt that the conflict would get worse. So when his father was discharged from the army, they decided to flee from the conflict.
They eventually settled in the United States after several months as political refugees in Pakistan. Roh credits this experience and his parents’ determination to give their children a better life as factors that gave him the immigrant drive to succeed. He followed his parents’ values of hard work and perseverance.
Roh didn’t start out in real estate. He graduated from college with training in finance, and he was working for JPMorgan Chase when he got his real estate license back in 2010.
He didn’t take the leap of faith into the commission-only world of real estate until 2012.
“Building bank balances for clients was a great thing, but I felt deep inside my heart that it wasn’t for me … I just came to the point where I felt I was working at a job I didn’t enjoy.”
He made the leap and left the safety and security of the financial services industry behind for real estate, and his career started to blossom.
Roh wholeheartedly believes in the power of real estate to build wealth and change lives.
“Right now we have historically low-interest rates, the price points are fantastic, and as Dale Carnegie once said, ‘Ninety percent of all millionaires achieved that by owning real estate and doing real estate transactions,'” Roh said.
“It’s your safest bet to build wealth; it’s a tangible asset. And while there are no guarantees in life, it’s a pretty safe to assume that the house you’re living in will be worth more 10 years from now than it is today.”
That was just Roh’s start. To learn more about his experience in real estate, his advice for new agents and his tips on being the best real estate professional you can be, listen to our complete interview.
Tim and Julie Harris have over 20 years’ experience in real estate. Learn more about their real estate coaching and training programs at timandjulieharris.com, or tune in to Real Estate Coaching Radio every weekday at realestatecoachingradio.com.
