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Teams Spotlight: Michael and Brandon Doyle, Doyle Real Estate Team
Name: Doyle Real Estate Team – Michael Doyle (father) and Brandon Doyle (son)
Title: Realtors
Experience: Michael: about 25 years; Brandon: 10 years as of May
Location: Maple Grove, Minnesota
Brokerage: RE/MAX Results
Rankings: Frequently in the top 100 in Minnesota; latest RE/MAX Results ranking put us tied for No. 42 out of 1,200+ agents
Team size: 3 — us, plus our awesome assistant, Cassi
Transaction sides: 46
Sales volume: $14,191,229 in 2021
What would you like readers to know about you and your brokerage?
Working with my father has been a great opportunity, I’ve been able to learn from his now 25+ years of experience while also contributing a fresh viewpoint.
Together we’ve enhanced the client experience by leveraging the latest technology and building on our existing relationships. We’ve never strived to be the No. 1 agent or team in our company, instead focusing on the client experience and living fulfilling lives.
We enjoy the relationships we’ve built with our clients, agents in the area and beyond. I think sometimes in this industry too much focus is put on sales rankings and trying to keep up with the newest marketing fad.
We’re very proud of the sustainable business model we’ve built that is not reliant on buying leads; we’ve got a healthy net income and are able to live our lives by design.
Having a trusted business partner is great for finding work-life balance, taking vacations and solving problems that arise with transactions day to day. Real estate can be a lonely business if you’re out there trying to do everything yourself. We’ve found that leveraging other people’s skills, delegating and outsourcing allows us to be more productive.
How did you get your start in real estate?
Brandon: I grew up around real estate and was always interested in the analytical side of things. I went to St. Cloud State University to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Real Estate with the intention of going into commercial real estate.
After graduating in 2008, I became a commercial real estate appraiser. Unfortunately, with the market correction, I wasn’t able to get enough experience, so I briefly went into the hospitality industry before joining my father in residential real estate.
How did you choose your brokerage?
We both worked at Edina Realty to start. It’s a well-known local brokerage with good training programs and brand awareness. Eventually, we outgrew what they had to offer and moved over to RE/MAX Results. We were attracted to the technology they offered, the productivity of the agents, and an economic plan that would put more money in our pockets.
We believe that an agent will be successful wherever they land as long as they work hard. It is important to brand yourself and have your own systems, such as a CRM system and email, so that if you do decide to move, you’ll be able to take that with you.
The grass is always the greenest where you water it, and it takes time to learn new systems so we don’t recommend switching companies frequently. We’re now coming up on eight years with RE/MAX Results but still have great relationships with the agents at Edina Realty and other brokerages in town.
What do you wish more people knew about working in real estate?
TV shows often glamorize the business but don’t show the hard work, deals that don’t work out, or agents that just don’t make it. There seems to be an expectation that you’ll get your license and then the business just comes to you, when in reality 50 percent or more of the job is actually going out and finding people to work with.
What’s something you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
Reviews are gold; you need to start requesting them right away and build up a strong online presence. Document what you’re doing, share evidence of success, create valuable content and share it with the world.
What are 5 things you’d like readers to know about you and your brokerage?
We conducted the world’s first virtual broker open back in 2015 using a beta version of Matterport on VR as well as technology from Toursler which is now known as Realvision. To date we’ve done over 100 360º tours for our own listings.
We were one of the first agents in Minnesota to use a Matterport camera which I learned about at Inman Connect in 2014.
Back in 2013, before aerial photos and videos became popular, we actually built a drone to use in our marketing but now we actually outsource this due to FAA requirements, time spent editing, etc.
We specialize in new construction, in addition to representing builders we make a point to visit with local builder representatives and create content including videos for potential buyers to learn more about the new home communities in our area.
Brandon has been writing and creating videos about smart home technology for several years now, has personally tested hundreds of products and is recognized as smart home expert nationally. Lately, he’s been filming home tours for an upcoming series.
Brandon has co-authored and authored several books. For the past five years, he’s read every new real estate-related book and written an annual review of his top recommendations.
What’s your top prediction for 2022?
I think we’ll have a record year as homeowners realize how much equity they have in their homes. Things may start to balance out with rising interest rates but there will still be a shortage of inventory.
Tell us about an epic fail you’ve experienced since you’ve been a broker. What did you learn?
I wouldn’t say this was an epic fail, but we’ve certainly invested in marketing opportunities that didn’t pan out. We’ve grown our team for the sake of growing it only to find that generating leads for members can be expensive and not always profitable without the right people and systems in place.
What’s your top tip for the freshly licensed agent?
Don’t worry about what others are doing each day; go out into the world and have conversations about real estate, always trying to add value wherever you go. If you cultivate a database early in your career and tend to it daily you’ll create a sustainable business that grows organically. It is so much more enjoyable to work with people who know, like and trust you than to chase leads.
Name 3 people you admire? Why?
I admire my father because of his strong work ethic and even temperament during stressful situations. When other parties to a transaction get stressed out or emotional, he remains calm and provides solutions. His priority is always getting the deal done and will put ego or personal gains aside to make sure our clients are taken care of.
For the past 10 years, I’ve had the honor of working alongside of him and just when I think I’ve learned it all something new comes up.
Sean Carpenter is another person I admire, he is a master of building relationships and an all-around authentic, genuine guy. When he speaks at local conferences he is always the highest-rated presenter and comes with fresh content each year. He is someone in the industry that I definitely look up to.
I really enjoy the energy of guys like Ryan Serhant, Enes Yilmazer and Brad McCallum. They each create incredible property tour videos that are highly engaging and entertaining. I admire their hard work and passion for creating great content to share with the world.