Tom Nickley is the Founder & CEO of The Nickley Group, a top-performing Florida team. We sat down with Tom to learn a little bit about his market, his team, and his secret for success in the face of an unprecedented inventory shortage.
Tell us a little bit about your background and the founding of The Nickley Group.
Prior to coming to real estate, I had an eleven-year career in the wine industry, which is where I developed my passion for leadership, growth, and nurturing teams. It was that passion that inspired me to become an agent. I always say I didn’t get into real estate to sell real estate; I got into real estate to build a successful team and business.
That was 2013 and, since then, I founded The Nickley Group. We’re currently a team of nearly 50 people strong and are on pace to do around 1,000 transactions for approximately $300 million in volume this year.
Between advocating for your clients in this crazy market and being a CEO, your days must be jam-packed! What solutions make it easier for you and your team to win deals?
The Nickley Group
Hands down, this is the craziest market I have ever seen. We are finding success via focusing on creative solutions for our clients and keeping our agents educated on the market.
For example, we offer programs like the Knock Home Swap™ to our clients. Knock specifically has been a game-changer. It puts our clients in a position to buy their next house before they’ve sold their current one, make non-contingent offers, and be competitive in this intense market.
Our clients now have the flexibility to wait to sell their current house until they move into their new one and that takes a lot of stress off of the process. Offering a solution like that not only gives our clients a leg up against the competition, but it also gives my agents the ability to offer a unique, winning solution.
Do you have any predictions for what the market will look like in the coming months (or years)?
I believe competitiveness in the market is here to stay for a while—the extreme shortage of inventory and influx of people are keeping that competition. However, I don’t think housing prices will continue to rise at such a steep rate. We can see the ceiling on what buyers are willing to pay is starting to form.
What words of wisdom would you like to share with fellow or aspiring Realtors?
Don’t discount the critical role prospecting plays in your business! When market sales dropped by 50% during the beginning days of the COVID-19 pandemic, our sales went up. I believe that’s because our prioritization of prospecting built strong, lasting relationships that allowed us to keep doing business.
At TNG, we believe that when you build your business on good habits, mindset, and fundamentals, your business will become market-proof. By focusing on building your business, lead generation can help create more business for you.