Real Estate Common Sense

What if the experience you had before real estate is exactly what helps you succeed in it?

In this episode of Real Estate Common Sense, Lisa Spencer sits down with David Lovitch of the Lovitch Group at Keller Williams in Apollo Beach, Florida, to talk about how his real estate career actually began—the early decisions, challenges, adjustments, and lessons that eventually helped him build a business he still loves more than two decades later.

David did not begin with a polished real estate business plan or a sophisticated lead-generation system.

He started as a construction company owner and real estate investor.

David and his wife were buying homes, renovating them, flipping some and renting others when his broker made a simple suggestion: why not get a real estate license and keep the commissions?

That idea became the beginning of his real estate career.

And for new agents, there is an important lesson in David’s story: you may already have more experience to build from than you realize.

David brought 12 years of construction experience into real estate. He understood homes, repairs, renovations, and how properties worked. Instead of trying to hide the fact that he was a new agent, he relied on the knowledge he already had and used it to help clients make better decisions.

Lisa and David discuss how agents from many different backgrounds can do the same thing.

Whether you came from teaching, healthcare, sales, law enforcement, hospitality, construction, or another profession, there are skills from your previous career that can help shape how you communicate with clients, solve problems, build trust, and develop your own professional identity.

But David’s early career was not without challenges.

He became licensed in New York in 2004 and soon found himself navigating the housing market downturn. Buyer activity slowed dramatically, and David began wondering whether real estate was still the right career for him.

Instead of quitting, he started learning.

He researched foreclosures and short sales and discovered an area where consumers desperately needed knowledgeable real estate professionals. By developing a new skill set, David found a way to remain useful in a changing market.

That ability to adapt became one of the recurring themes of his career.

For agents working through a difficult or uncertain real estate market today, David offers a practical reminder: continue doing the activities that create business, keep learning, and keep moving forward.

The conversation also tackles one of the biggest challenges for new Realtors—trying to figure out what they should actually be doing every day.

David shares several of the habits and systems that helped bring consistency to his business.

One of those was simply staying connected with people.

He talks about using a CRM, adding contacts consistently, and having meaningful conversations. And Lisa points out that new agents do not need expensive systems to begin. The CRM supplied by your brokerage—or even a well-organized spreadsheet—can be enough if you actually use it.

That distinction matters.

New agents often attend real estate events or training sessions and hear successful agents talk about everything they use today: assistants, paid leads, sophisticated technology, marketing teams, and expensive systems.

It can make success feel financially out of reach.

David’s story provides a different perspective.

He did not start with all of those resources.

He built them as his business grew.

The episode also explores real estate burnout and work-life balance.

Early in his Florida career, David worked long days, seven days a week. Over time, he learned the importance of creating space outside of work. For him, that meant spending time with family and getting out on the water to fish.

The lesson is not that every agent needs to follow the same schedule.

It is that building a real estate career should not require putting the rest of your life permanently on hold.

David eventually created more leverage by hiring administrative support, developing systems, and building a team around him. Lisa also discusses practical options available to newer agents today, including transaction coordinators who can provide support on a per-transaction basis without the expense of hiring a full-time employee.

David’s career has also become a family business.

He has worked alongside his wife for years and now has the opportunity to work with his son Ethan as well. Their experience leads to a conversation about building a business that can grow beyond one person and perhaps even become a legacy.

Today, the Lovitch Group is a successful real estate team, but that is not where this story begins.

It begins with a construction company owner buying investment properties.

It moves through getting licensed, learning the business, surviving a difficult housing market, relocating from New York to Florida, learning an entirely different real estate environment, building relationships, developing systems, and gradually creating a business around the work David enjoys most.

And that is exactly why this conversation matters for agents who are still figuring things out.

You do not need to have your entire real estate career mapped out.

You need to keep learning, keep talking to people, find ways to use the experience you already have, and be willing to adjust when the market changes.

This episode is especially valuable for:

• New real estate agents trying to build confidence
• Realtors struggling to find their professional identity
• Agents navigating a slower or changing real estate market
• Realtors looking for simple systems to create consistency
• Agents wondering when to hire support or use a transaction coordinator
• Real estate professionals struggling with burnout
• Agents who want to build a referral- and relationship-based business
• Anyone wondering whether they can build a long-term career in real estate

Real Estate Common Sense is a podcast for real estate agents who are launching, building, and sustaining a career in the industry.

In Season Three, host Lisa Spencer talks with successful real estate professionals about something we do not hear nearly enough about: what happened before the success.

How did they get started?

What did they struggle with?

What almost made them quit?

What did they learn along the way?

And what would they tell the agent who is trying to build a business today?

David Lovitch’s story is a reminder that successful real estate careers are rarely created overnight.

They are built through experience, relationships, learning, persistence, adaptability—and a willingness to keep going while you are still figuring things out.

Did you like this episode? Is there something else you would like to learn about? Let us know here!

What separates agents who continually build their real estate careers from those who keep starting over?

In this episode of Real Estate Common Sense, Lisa Spencer talks with Tony Baroni, founder and team leader of the Tony Baroni Team, about the determination, discipline, specialization, and mentorship that helped him grow from a new real estate agent into the leader of one of Central Florida's prominent real estate teams.

Tony's career began in 2005 working with first-time homebuyers. But after selling homes to the people he already knew, he quickly faced one of the questions almost every new agent eventually encounters: Where does the next client come from?

His answer was to stop trying to figure everything out alone.

Tony shares why joining a real estate team and finding strong mentors became a turning point in his career. Surprisingly, the biggest benefits weren't simply leads. They were mentorship, structure, accountability, and specialization—learning what his workday should look like and developing expertise instead of trying to be everything to everyone.

That philosophy became a recurring theme throughout his career.

Tony specialized in expired listings, then short sales, then listings, relocations, and increasingly sophisticated team models. Rather than constantly jumping to the next real estate strategy, he focused on identifying an opportunity, learning it deeply, and staying with it long enough to develop real expertise.

He also shares the challenges behind the growth.

After reaching approximately 40–44 transactions a year as an individual agent, Tony realized there simply weren't enough hours in the day to continue growing the same way. His first attempts at building a team didn't go perfectly. His first administrative hires didn't last, and he admits he initially hired in the wrong order. But instead of deciding that leverage didn't work, he adjusted the model and kept going. One of his later hires remained with him for eight years.

You'll hear Tony and Lisa discuss:

• Why mentorship may be one of the most overlooked advantages in real estate
• What new agents should really look for when joining a real estate team
• Creating structure and accountability in a commission-based career
• Why specialization can be more powerful than trying every new lead-generation strategy
• Working expired listings and short sales
• Turning expertise into referrals by teaching other real estate agents
• Transitioning from a real estate team to an independent business
• Knowing when it's time to hire and create leverage
• Lessons from early hiring mistakes
• Building a real estate team using proven models and systems
• Why Tony believes flexibility can actually become a liability for agents
• Treating real estate like a business rather than simply a flexible career
• Growing from individual production into leadership
• Building a business that creates opportunities for other agents and their families

Tony also talks candidly about one of the defining characteristics of his career: determination.

When he left his previous career in logistics to enter real estate, the owners of the company questioned whether he would succeed and assured him he could come back if it didn't work. Tony remembers that conversation as additional motivation to make sure going back was never necessary.

That determination became especially important when his family began depending entirely on his commission income during a difficult real estate market. Instead of backing away from an unpopular segment of the business, Tony saw opportunity in what other agents didn't want to do—short sales. By becoming knowledgeable in that niche and then teaching other agents about it, he developed a referral stream from agents who preferred sending those clients to him.

Today, the Tony Baroni Team serves markets across Central Florida and continues to focus heavily on listings and relocation business, while expanding its geographic reach.

Whether you're a new real estate agent, an experienced Realtor deciding whether to join or build a team, or a team leader working through the challenges of growth and leverage, this conversation offers practical perspective on what happens when you choose a direction, develop expertise, and stay with it long enough to become exceptional at it.

About Real Estate Common Sense:
Hosted by Lisa Spencer, Real Estate Common Sense is a podcast for real estate professionals focused on the practical skills, decisions, experiences, and conversations that help agents launch, build, and sustain successful real estate careers.

Connect with Tony Baroni:
Website: TonyBaroni.com
Serving Tampa Bay, Central Florida, Orlando, Florida's Gulf Coast, and Florida's East Coast.

Did you like this episode? Is there something else you would like to learn about? Let us know here!

What would you do if you started your real estate career with no database, no local network, and only a limited marketing budget?

In this episode of Real Estate Common Sense, Lisa Spencer sits down with Ken Brownlee of The Brownlee Group in Tampa Bay, Florida, to talk about how he built a successful real estate career from the ground up—and why many of the strategies that worked for him more than 20 years ago still work today.

Ken didn’t enter real estate with a large sphere of influence or a ready-made pipeline of buyers and sellers. In fact, he says he started with zero database, zero local network, and zero built-in source of referrals.

So, he created one.

After speaking with the top-producing agents in his office and asking what they would do if they had to start over, Ken focused on one foundational strategy: build the database first. He used open houses, neighborhood outreach, conversations, and consistent follow-up to begin meeting people and creating relationships.

Ken also shares how he launched real estate while still working another full-time job. Rather than treating real estate as a part-time pursuit, he deliberately managed two careers until his new business could support the transition. By his fifth month, real estate had become his sole profession.

You'll hear Lisa and Ken discuss:

• How to start a real estate career without a large sphere of influence
• Why every new agent needs to build a database
• Using open houses to generate buyers, sellers, and future listings
• Turning neighborhood door knocking into genuine conversations
• How to launch real estate while still working another job
• Why mentorship and coaching can accelerate a new agent’s growth
• Asking successful agents what they would do if they had to start over
• Creating goals and accountability early in your career
• Why healthy competition can help build productive habits
• How to talk with open house visitors without sounding scripted
• Building a business through contribution rather than pressure
• Developing multiple income streams within real estate
• Property management and real estate investing
• Moving renters toward homeownership
• Building a business around relationships, service, and community involvement

One of the most practical parts of the conversation comes when Ken explains exactly how he used open houses as a prospecting system.

He would schedule multiple open houses over a weekend, spend the days beforehand inviting neighbors, and use those conversations to learn who might be considering buying or selling. That simple approach helped him generate his first two listings within his first 30 days.

And when someone walked into an open house and announced that they were “just a nosy neighbor,” Ken didn’t immediately launch into a sales presentation. Instead, he welcomed the conversation and focused on learning why they were there and how he might be able to help.

That philosophy—come from contribution and learn what people actually need—has remained central to Ken’s business.

Today, his real estate career extends beyond traditional residential sales. Ken has combined his background in finance, real estate investing, rental property ownership, and property management to create multiple business and income streams while helping clients think more broadly about homeownership and long-term financial goals.

He also remains passionate about helping new agents. His advice is straightforward: find a mentor or coach, build your database, talk to people, and don’t become a “silent agent” simply because you received a real estate license.

Whether you're studying for your real estate license, launching your first year in the business, trying to build a database from scratch, or looking for ways to diversify an established real estate career, this episode is filled with practical strategies that don’t require a massive marketing budget or complicated technology.

Sometimes real estate growth starts with something much simpler: meet people, build relationships, stay consistent, and give people a reason to remember you.

About Real Estate Common Sense:
Hosted by Lisa Spencer, Real Estate Common Sense is a podcast for real estate professionals focused on the practical skills, experiences, decisions, and conversations that help agents launch, build, and sustain successful careers.

About Ken Brownlee:
Ken Brownlee leads The Brownlee Group in the Tampa Bay area and has more than 20 years of experience in real estate, investing, rental properties, property management, mentoring, and community involvement.  You learn more about The Brownlee Group at Keller Willams at:  www.kenbrownlee.com 

Did you like this episode? Is there something else you would like to learn about? Let us know here!

In Episode 1 of Real Estate Common Sense we start at the beginning.  

This episode breaks down 10 questions every agent should ask their broker, and other common sense details that assist in launching a career in real estate.

Although this episode talks about one of the most basic assumptions, choosing a broker, it also discusses the importance of making an informed decision about where you will launch your real estate career.

Real estate coaching, mentoring and training are highlighted as the first essential decision an agent makes.

Did you like this episode? Is there something else you would like to learn about? Let us know here!

It is time to get into action.

If we are just launching a career in real estate, finding business or lead generation is where we have to begin.

This episode reviews our Top 10 sources for finding real estate leads, and includes scripts and ideas for capturing and converting real estate business.

Did you like this episode? Is there something else you would like to learn about? Let us know here!

 Lisa Spencer walks through the "5 Elements of a Successful Buyer Consultation" and offers helpful suggestions on how to serve buyers in the ever changing landscape of the real estate industry.

Did you like this episode? Is there something else you would like to learn about? Let us know here!

The National Association of Realtors claims as much as 82% of an agent's business can be traced to their sphere of influence.  Yet, many agents resist tapping into this valuable resource.
In this episode we will share the 8 ways to Touch Your Sphere of Influence.

Did you like this episode? Is there something else you would like to learn about? Let us know here!

In this episode we discuss the first step to a successful listing consultation.  The "Getting to Know You" questions that reveal seller motivation and so much more.

Did you like this episode? Is there something else you would like to learn about? Let us know here!

This podcast reviews the first 3 steps to a successful listing consultation, then takes a deep dive into how agents help sellers understand the market and the process of selling their home.  

This is a content rich podcast with suggestions on how agents on a budget can articulate their value to sellers.

Did you like this episode? Is there something else you would like to learn about? Let us know here!

Episode 7 "Reviewing the Market Analysis and Establishing an 'Offered At' Price" is the third episode covering the 5 Steps in a Listing Consultation.

This episode does not cover the mechanics of putting together a market analysis.  Rather, it reviews the process and tools agents can use to have the conversation about the analysis.

We  hope you enjoy this episode.

Did you like this episode? Is there something else you would like to learn about? Let us know here!