From growing up in Iran during the Persian Gulf War to almost dying in a car accident to coming out as a gay Middle Eastern man, Harma Hartouni Is no stranger to adversity. Find out how he used that pain to build a successful brokerage and team. Plus, he talks about how he uses data to recruit and retain agents.
Today’s REAL Trending features an interview with Harma Hartouni, operating partner of Keller Williams Realty Encino-Sherman Oaks, Calif., and team leader of Harma Real Estate. In this interview, Hartouni discusses how his early adversity shaped his real estate career, how he spots opportunities in the market based on data, and what information he’s tracking to guide agents toward success.
Here is a small preview of today’s interview. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:
Tracey Velt: A lack of housing inventory is impacting agents all over the country. What are some of the things that you’re doing to help agents and your team get more listings?.
Harma Hartouni: Many years ago, Gary Keller said, “Opportunity rises for talented people in a tough market.” So if you are withdrawing just because the market tells you to withdraw, I think you will not survive. I had no idea that COVID-19 was coming but I predicted a change in the market. I started to dig deep into our firms’ data. Divide transactions monthly, says it’s 140 closings. So, 10 or 15 of them are leases, five to 10 are commercial, the rest are residential. If you take the residential transactions and divide in half, find the numbers of buyer sides vs. sellers sides. I believe that we need to make sure that it’s always 50/50, because that’s healthy. So no matter what market we’re getting into, that number can help you predict where things are going and where your brokerage needs to go.
REAL Trending features the brightest minds in real estate. Twice a month, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Victoria Wickham.