{"id":10488,"date":"2019-05-03T15:07:45","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T22:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=10488"},"modified":"2019-12-27T15:45:30","modified_gmt":"2019-12-27T23:45:30","slug":"million-dollar-agent-success-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Julie Wyss, HomeLight\u2019s First Million-Dollar Agent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a riddle for you: How did the short sales real estate agent who began her career during the 2008 financial crisis make a million dollars?<\/p>\n<p>Stumped? Meet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/agents\/julie-wyss-ca-01350871\">Julie Wyss<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Du9fDHiPA6I?rel=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><br \/>\n<em>(Video Credit: Corinne Rivera \/ HomeLight)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>During the biggest disruption to the U.S. housing market since the Great Depression, Julie\u2019s third and youngest child started first grade\u2014and she decided to get into real estate while everyone else in the industry was jumping ship. \u201cI just needed a career,\u201d Julie says.<\/p>\n<p>Her choice, though risky at the time, eventually paid dividends and led her to an incredible achievement:<\/p>\n<p>Julie is the first agent to close $1 million in commissions from HomeLight referrals, which she estimates accounted for approximately one-third of her business in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Along the way, she figured out how to harness her strengths, develop \u201cnearly perfect\u201d systems to serve her clients, and still find time for herself every day. We sat down with Julie to find out how she cracked the code on a notoriously difficult business and why she believes in HomeLight\u2019s platform as a trusted service for homebuyers and sellers.<\/p>\n<h2>Carving a niche in the worst real estate market of a lifetime<\/h2>\n<p>Though she\u2019s originally from Washington state, Julie considers the San Jose, California area, her true home. It\u2019s where she grew up and has resided since she was 14. Before she landed anywhere near the real estate industry, she owned a fitness center in Los Gatos, a town of 30,000 people in Silicon Valley. At the time she had friends in the mortgage business who had built successful careers, which inspired her to change paths.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were doing so well financially and I was working so hard owning a small business and just not making the money I wanted to,\u201d Julie said.<\/p>\n<p>So she sold her fitness center and got into mortgages part-time. She\u2019d planned to open her own mortgage company&#8230;when the industry completely imploded and the subprime mortgage crisis tanked the housing market.<\/p>\n<p>Even after hearing the stories of real estate agents short selling their own homes, Julie found an opportunity in the chaos. She became an agent herself.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I went to a free seminar and they said everybody should be getting certified in short sales. So I got the short sales certification and went full on into marketing myself as the short sale expert,\u201d she says. \u201cI became very successful in that market.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>How Julie ended up partnering with HomeLight<\/h2>\n<p>Julie still lives in Los Gatos and her physical office is based there, but she does real estate business in the surrounding Silicon Valley area, including the white-hot market of San Jose where she made her way through generating leads in different neighborhoods. She found success in the 95124 ZIP code where she brought up her kids, as well as Cupertino (where Apple\u2019s headquarters are based) and Los Altos.<\/p>\n<p>In late 2016, she came across HomeLight by way of Googling herself (something that she does once a week to see what pops up and check her online visibility). She saw her HomeLight agent profile in the search results and quickly connected with one of HomeLight\u2019s representatives so she could get set up on our platform.<\/p>\n<p>She learned our way of doing business: HomeLight connects home buyers and sellers with real estate agents in their area who have the most relevant experience to meet their needs. We look at performance metrics surfaced through an agent\u2019s transaction history as well as factors like client reviews. With these insights, we&#8217;re able to identify those agents who consistently deliver optimal outcomes for their clients.<\/p>\n<p>So unlike other real estate sites that sell ads, Julie couldn\u2019t start buying HomeLight referrals with a credit card. She had to earn them with her actual transaction history (which she\u2019d already started to build) and continual outstanding performance.<\/p>\n<p>And she was up for the challenge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe great thing about HomeLight is that consumers trust the platform,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that the system is absolutely brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10493\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10493\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/million-dollar-agent-success-story-desk.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/million-dollar-agent-success-story-desk.jpg\" class=\"attachment-content size-content\" alt=\"An office where a successful agent can make a million dollars.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/million-dollar-agent-success-story-desk.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/million-dollar-agent-success-story-desk-64x37.jpg 64w, https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/million-dollar-agent-success-story-desk-128x73.jpg 128w, https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/million-dollar-agent-success-story-desk-192x110.jpg 192w, https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/million-dollar-agent-success-story-desk-432x247.jpg 432w, https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/million-dollar-agent-success-story-desk-500x286.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10493\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: (kittipong053\/ Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Focus on your strengths, and delegate the rest<\/h2>\n<p>So what\u2019s the secret sauce to Julie\u2019s fast rise to success, in real estate and with HomeLight? She shared a few of her brass-tacks business strategies:<\/p>\n<h3>1. Focus and execute on the seller\u2019s top priority: return on investment<\/h3>\n<p>At listing consultations, Julie aligns her strategy with clients\u2019: getting the most value out of their home. She\u2019s a return-on-investment expert, and every one of her sellers gets an assigned assistant concierge to help them with home prep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just have this process: window cleaning, carpet cleaning, house cleaning, handyman repairs, junk hauling, yard work,\u201d Julie said. \u201cAnd then finally staging, hitting the market, and jumping right into our marketing plan. Clients love to know that I\u2019ve done this hundreds of times and they feel comfortable knowing that I have the answers.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>2. Complete home inspections in advance<\/h3>\n<p>Not all agents do pre-listing inspections, but the benefit is that you can identify any issues with the house in advance, fix it before the buyer\u2019s inspections, and have more certainty during the closing process that you won\u2019t be ambushed by a surprise repair request.<\/p>\n<h3>3. &#8216;Outsource everything but genius.&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cMy superpower is lead generation, lead conversion, getting contracts signed, building and maintaining relationships, and then getting a 5-star review,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>The rest she delegates, like driving buyers to showings or running around with flyers and lock boxes.<\/p>\n<p>She also has two separate phone lines: one for existing clients, lead gen, and negotiations, and another for the MLS so she can have an assistant field calls from agents and appraisers.<\/p>\n<p>With a small team (including her husband, her daughter, plus a few part-timers and transaction coordinators) Julie is able to trust others with tasks that eat up precious time and focus on connecting with more clients.<\/p>\n<h2>A day in the life of Julie Wyss<\/h2>\n<p>Julie\u2019s typical day goes something like this:<\/p>\n<p>Wake up every day at about 7 a.m. Sit down with a cup of coffee, open the computer, and hammer on lead follow up until about 9 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI rotate: Call, text, email. Call, text, email,\u201d Julie says of her lead nurturing process.<\/p>\n<p>During this time, she also reaches out to any clients who are in escrow and might need something on her end.<\/p>\n<p>After that, she works the rest of the whole day and burns the midnight oil.<\/p>\n<p>Psych!<\/p>\n<p>Julie then exercises for about two hours (from 10 a.m. to noon). She\u2019ll take a five-mile walk with her dog, go for a run, or head to the gym. She sometimes checks her phone at the top of a mountain after a hike to see if anything needs her attention.<\/p>\n<p>Quick shower, a little bit of catch up, and then it\u2019s time for listing appointments which Julie tries to book between 2-4 p.m. She\u2019ll end the work day with a couple more hours of miscellaneous tasks, before heading out around 6 or 6:30 p.m. for a nice dinner and maybe a glass of wine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI prefer to work on weekends, rather than evenings, because I need my rest and if I work late, then it just throws everything off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<h2>The truth about winning clients over<\/h2>\n<p>The average price point Julie sells is around $1.3 million, which is considered to be an average home in one of the most expensive markets in the country. But even with sky-high home prices that sound like an ideal get-rich-quick-scheme for an agent, Julie has mastered a system of selling at a high volume\u2014upwards of 100 homes a year.<\/p>\n<p>So while she runs her business like a well-oiled machine behind the scenes, the homeowners she works with are average people who made a smart (or extremely lucky) investment years ago. They may own million-dollar homes, but they aren\u2019t looking for a fancy real estate agent.<\/p>\n<p>Julie\u2019s casual demeanor, then, is a comfort. No need to show up dressed to the nines. A pair of jeans and a nice sweater will do, she advises.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">\u201cI can&#8217;t emphasize enough the importance of just being down to earth,\u201d Julie said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>At the end of day of intense negotiations or client presentations, Julie can escape the hustle of the city, retreat to her office in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains, and take in the cherry blossoms outside her office window.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s another seven-day work week, but you won\u2019t find her complaining.<\/p>\n<p><em>Header Image Source: (Sundry Photography\/ Shutterstock)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Top-selling San Jose agent Julie Wyss is the first agent to close $1 million in commissions from HomeLight referrals, a remarkable achievement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":10491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[193,673,581],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-agents","category-our-products","category-case-studies"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Meet Julie Wyss, HomeLight\u2019s First Million-Dollar Agent<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Top-selling San Jose agent Julie Wyss is the first agent to close $1 million in commissions from HomeLight referrals, a remarkable achievement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet Julie Wyss, HomeLight\u2019s First Million-Dollar Agent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Top-selling San Jose agent Julie Wyss is the first agent to close $1 million in commissions from HomeLight referrals, a remarkable achievement.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-03T22:07:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-27T23:45:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shutterstock_1036428643.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"517\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Caroline Feeney\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Caroline Feeney\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meet Julie Wyss, HomeLight\u2019s First Million-Dollar Agent","description":"Top-selling San Jose agent Julie Wyss is the first agent to close $1 million in commissions from HomeLight referrals, a remarkable achievement.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meet Julie Wyss, HomeLight\u2019s First Million-Dollar Agent","og_description":"Top-selling San Jose agent Julie Wyss is the first agent to close $1 million in commissions from HomeLight referrals, a remarkable achievement.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/","og_site_name":"HomeLight Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/","article_published_time":"2019-05-03T22:07:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-12-27T23:45:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":517,"url":"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shutterstock_1036428643.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Caroline Feeney","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gohomelight","twitter_site":"@gohomelight","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Caroline Feeney","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/"},"author":{"name":"Caroline Feeney","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2744b155b330dc2700ac597557186d09"},"headline":"Meet Julie Wyss, HomeLight\u2019s First Million-Dollar Agent","datePublished":"2019-05-03T22:07:45+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-27T23:45:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/"},"wordCount":1438,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shutterstock_1036428643.jpg","articleSection":["Agent Resources","HomeLight","Success Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/","name":"Meet Julie Wyss, HomeLight\u2019s First Million-Dollar Agent","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shutterstock_1036428643.jpg","datePublished":"2019-05-03T22:07:45+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-27T23:45:30+00:00","description":"Top-selling San Jose agent Julie Wyss is the first agent to close $1 million in commissions from HomeLight referrals, a remarkable achievement.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shutterstock_1036428643.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shutterstock_1036428643.jpg","width":2560,"height":517,"caption":"Source: (Sundry Photography\/ Shutterstock)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/million-dollar-agent-success-story\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meet Julie Wyss, HomeLight\u2019s First Million-Dollar Agent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/","name":"HomeLight Blog","description":"Real Estate Advice from America&#039;s Top Agents","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"HomeLight","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/logo-hr-color.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/logo-hr-color.png","width":1348,"height":262,"caption":"HomeLight"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/","https:\/\/x.com\/gohomelight","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/homelight\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCimugR9XF17-OZ7B9fNnxWw","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/HomeLight"],"description":"Everything you need to know to sell your house faster and for more money. Articles, guides, and advice from top agents all over the U.S.","email":"support@homelight.com","telephone":"(888) 688-0350","legalName":"HomeLight","foundingDate":"2012-01-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"201","maxValue":"500"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2744b155b330dc2700ac597557186d09","name":"Caroline Feeney","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/08deeb0d7ac8895a3abc07f3502398fab127a4a51e9cc01a4e2cd5c80f93c890?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/08deeb0d7ac8895a3abc07f3502398fab127a4a51e9cc01a4e2cd5c80f93c890?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Caroline Feeney"},"description":"Caroline Feeney was previously HomeLight's Executive Editor \/ Director of Content. With 7 years of real estate reporting and editing experience, she previously managed content for Inman News and co-authored a book on real estate leadership. The Midwest native holds a master's from the Missouri School of Journalism and was formerly a real estate contributor for Forbes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.homelight.com","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/caroline-feeney-81025043\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/author\/caroline-feeney\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}