How To Use A Local Facebook Group To Sell 75+ Homes A Year

Kerri Denney: Platform was absolutely key to my strategy. And no, Tim did not tell me to say this just so everybody knows. If you are moving to a new area, the best advice I can give, check if your market is available because it will make you an instant celebrity. People now, it takes a while to build up, but people just all know that– everybody knows I'm a realtor. Everybody thinks that I have this Huntsville knowledge, which now I do, obviously have a lot of it, but that was definitely key to my success as well besides my group was getting that exposure that I wouldn’t have gotten normally.

Tim Chermak: This is The Platform Marketing Show, where we interview the most creative and ambitious real estate agents in the country, dissect their local marketing strategy, and get the behind the scenes scoop on how they're generating listing leads and warm referrals. We'll dive into the specifics of what marketing campaigns are working for them, how much they're spending on those campaigns, and figure out how they have perfected what we call the Platform Marketing strategy. This is your host, Tim Chermak. I'm the founder and CEO of Platform. I love marketing and I talk too much, so let's dive in.

Tim Chermak: Good morning and welcome back to another episode of The Platform Marketing Show. I'm joined today by Kerri Denney, who's coming at you from Huntsville, Alabama. Kerri, welcome to the show. 

Kerri Denney: Hello. Happy to be here. 

Tim Chermak: So we just were talking for, I don't know, 60 seconds before we hit record and I just had a mind blown moment where if you would have saw me before we were recording, I just had my eyes like deer in the headlights like, “What?” What we're going to talk about is one of those stories today that if you weren't seeing Kerri talk about this and you can Google Kerri Denney, she's a real person, it almost doesn't sound real, the success that she's created in the last year. So I just wanna start this episode, before I even ask Kerri a single question, I wanna start this episode by just laying some groundwork of the facts and then we'll dive into how Kerri has created the success that she's created. 

Tim Chermak: So Kerri, just a year ago, was a realtor in Colorado Springs. She was a very successful agent in Colorado Springs. She was selling over 100 homes a year. So not just like, oh yeah, she's doing pretty well. She's doing extremely well. For sure, top 1% of agents if you're selling over 100 homes a year. So, extremely talented, moves to a brand new city, brand new state, not even anywhere near Colorado Springs. It's not like you had some friends of friends or whatever, you moved to Huntsville, Alabama, which if you look at a map of the United States is nowhere near Colorado Springs. What took you to Huntsville, by the way? 

Kerri Denney: Well, my husband's job, it was pretty much either Colorado or Huntsville. Those were our choices and we just wanted to- 

Tim Chermak: Are you a military family? 

Kerri Denney: Yes, it's a military family, yeah. Well, he was in the military, but he works for the army now. So, just wanted to move to the south and get a new start with things, so yeah. 

Tim Chermak: Well, I know that that area is absolutely booming over the last decade, at Huntsville. It's honestly this huge up-and-coming town that no one knows about it yet, but it's like one of the best kept secrets in the south. So, all right, so you move from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, and the year that we're recording this, I always try to preface when I go on these rants, is that we're recording this in late 2024, almost 2025 when we're actually recording this. 

Tim Chermak: So for those who may be listening to this podcast episode a year or two in the future, the real estate market absolutely sucks right now and it has sucked for the last couple of years. Transaction volume is at historic lows. I co-own a mortgage company next to Platform and mortgage originations are at the lowest levels they've been since they've been tracking it in the last 40 years. Right now, if you think it's bad in real estate, a lot of the real estate transactions that are going on are new builds where the new builder lenders are obviously subsidizing the interest rates and giving all sorts of credits for whatever to get the inventory sold. There's a lot of cash buyers too, so that leaves the actual traditional homebuyer who's getting a conventional loan or whatever, there's very, very few of those going on. 

Tim Chermak: So I just want to preface all this by saying the market is very, very bad right now and that's just an objective fact. That's not even a hot take. It's just everyone knows it. No matter what metric or statistic you look at, the real estate market is not doing well. And I want to bring that up because that makes Kerri's story that much more impressive that she moved from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama where she didn't know a ton of people, didn't have an existing sphere there. You weren't born and raised there, right? 

Kerri Denney: No, I actually didn't know anybody. 

Tim Chermak: Okay, so did not know anyone in Huntsville, Alabama, starts over in a new city. Again, it's not like moving from Colorado Springs to Pueblo or like moving from Colorado Springs to Denver where you're somewhat adjacent and you might know some people still. It's like, no, no, no. Entirely new city state, new time zone, new teams to cheer for in sports, totally different vibe and you've already sold over 60 homes this year. You have enough pending that you'll probably finish the year above 75 closed transactions. It's your first full year in Huntsville, Alabama, you're probably gonna close 75 transactions this year in your first year in Huntsville, Alabama. 

Tim Chermak: So before I start asking questions and I finish this epic rant to start this podcast episode, I just want to state the obvious here that what this proves to me, what this shows me is that it's not the market conditions, it's not the circumstances, it's the agent. It's the wizard, not the wand. And so often, people, I think, we tell ourselves narratives. We tell ourselves stories to comfort ourselves that, “Oh, I'm having a down year. This year's been really difficult because the market's bad or because interest rates are high or because no one wants to move. Their mortgage payments are too high. Everyone's locked into the 3% mortgage. It's just a tough time to be in the business.” I guess the point I'm trying to make is all of that can be true and yet it's still a story you're telling yourself. Kerri's business growth over the last year just demolishes that narrative that you can use the market as an excuse because you've built an incredibly successful business in your very first year in Huntsville. 

Tim Chermak: So, take me back to the last year you were in Colorado Springs and then we'll just dive into your story, Kerri. What were you thinking when you moved from Colorado Springs to a new city state? Did you think it would grow that fast? Were you already making plans of, hey, when I move there, here's what I'm gonna do to be successful? Take us back to the mindset of what that move was like for you, being you already had such a successful business in Colorado Springs that you were walking away from. 

Kerri Denney: I mean, it was scary. I had to find another agent to take my database, learned a lot of lessons from that. I didn't choose probably the best person to handle it because I've seen some of my past clients in Colorado listing with other agents, which is definitely missed referral opportunities. I handed her everything on a silver platter. So, definitely, if you ever have to sell your business, choosing wisely is definitely a really important lesson, one that I had to learn. It was just one of those things where it was a lot of unknowns. I didn't know where I was gonna live, what part of town, and I hadn't known about Platform yet. I hadn't known how I was going to be successful. 

Kerri Denney: There is a tiny caveat, I guess, that needs to be said. I tried and failed at starting an expansion team a couple of years ago in Huntsville. Still, really, didn't know anybody. And the agents that I had, tried to grow that team, quit real estate. I did start this Facebook group, but it was only barely a thousand people when I took it over. So I do want to at least say that because I knew at least I had that Facebook group that I could lean on, but a Facebook group by itself does not normally create almost 100 transactions unless you do it correctly. I did have that little tiny thing that I did a couple years ago that clearly saved me. And the reason why I was going to do an expansion from Colorado to Huntsville is because they were going to move Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville. It was actually this huge thing. 

Tim Chermak: And is that Space Force when you say Space Command? 

Kerri Denney: No, Space Command is different than Space Force, but it was this whole thing if you follow military type stuff a couple of years ago, that they were fighting over who was going to get Space Command. So I thought I was really smart and I said, “Okay, well, I'll do a team there and then basically catch all those referrals.” That definitely flopped on its side. With my last year in Colorado, I had slowed down ‘cause I knew I was moving and just a lot of transition so I really didn't know what to expect. And then when I got here, I still had–

Tim Chermak: And how long had you been a realtor in Colorado Springs, just so we have some context? 

Kerri Denney: Since 2018, so five years in Colorado Springs. 

Tim Chermak: So it had taken you 5+ years to build up a business to the point that you were selling 100+ homes a year. 

Kerri Denney: Yes, correct.

Tim Chermak: And in Colorado Springs– again, I'm asking these questions just so people listening know that I don't know the answers. We haven't discussed any of this ahead of time. I'm asking these questions honestly because I want to know. When you say that you sold, was it 120? How many in Colorado Springs was it? 

Kerri Denney: In 2021, that was my biggest year. It was about 120 homes in 2021. 

Tim Chermak: And did you have a team of 20 agents selling those homes or was it just you? Or what did that look like? 

Kerri Denney: Well, I had a team and I was pretty much doing everything. In June of 2021– 

Tim Chermak: I've never heard that before. No one's ever told me that before. 

Kerri Denney: I know, right? At the Mastermind, there was a whole session on this, yes. 

Tim Chermak: I think we actually have a Platform Mastermind speaker every year. It's just a slot we have every year. “I started a team and here's all the things that went wrong,” ‘cause it ends up.

Kerri Denney: I could talk about that the whole time. 

Tim Chermak: You have these really, really impressive production numbers and then you look at the line item, it's like, oh, the team leader is doing 80% of the sales. 

Kerri Denney: Yes. Well, in June, 2021, I had 25 closings. I also remember in November, I don't remember how many closings I had, but I remember my market center leader, I actually had a major surgery that month and I made $100,000 in commission that month. I just remember him saying, “Oh my gosh. Of course, you don't get to keep all that. I wish.” That was a big year for me. I did have a team, but they were just pretty much complaining the whole time that I wasn't giving them enough leads.

Tim Chermak: What would you say– I mean, the exact percentage isn't important, but what would you say just approximately, if you sold 120 homes, how many of those were your personal deals where you were the agent on the transaction? 

Kerri Denney: Honestly, I would say 100. Yeah, it was about 100. 

Tim Chermak: Okay, so you did about 100 of the 120 some. I think it's really important that people realize that this is not a situation where she's like, hey, I had a team and we sold 120 homes and you personally only sold 12 of them or something. It’s like, no. Even if you didn't have a team, you still would have sold 100 homes that year by yourself. You were not just a successful agent, but an extremely successful agent in Colorado Springs and yet you decided to move. 

Tim Chermak: And I always think this is fascinating because if you own a successful CrossFit gym or a successful manufacturing facility or you're a dentist or you, I don't know, there's all sorts of different businesses you could own, moving to a new city isn't that big of a leap because if you're a successful dentist in Colorado, you're gonna be a successful dentist in Alabama. The same thing, transfer, but real estate is a relationship business where it's like the specific relationships with individuals that you had in Colorado don't transfer to Alabama. You have to start truly from scratch and there aren't very many businesses like that where the main asset is the relationships themselves. You truly are starting from scratch, from zero. That just makes it even more incredible that you were willing to walk away from a business that you were selling 100 homes a year because you were that confident that you could recreate that success in Huntsville, Alabama. Okay, you moved to Huntsville. You had started this Facebook group. Is it Moving to Huntsville? Is that what it was called? 

Kerri Denney: Moving to Huntsville, yes. That's what it's called. When I moved, the agents that I had on my little expansion team, they weren't doing anything with the group at all. It was kind of just there. It was flooded with other agents and there was no organization. It was just a mess. Eventually I was able to remove them and I took over the group and quickly became– I kind of really was able to just have myself be the Huntsville expert. I was always really nervous when people would ask me how long I've lived in Huntsville because I was like, oh. The thing is too, my– 

Tim Chermak: You’re like, “I was born and raised. Roll tight.” 

Kerri Denney: Well, I actually do– this is really important for agents that are wanting to specialize in relocation and things. If that's going to be your niche, make sure you've actually done it. That's big to me. This is not smack talking agents. If you've done this and you're successful, great. I applaud you, but it's really difficult to relate to people that are having to make a huge move and they move to a new place and they don't know anybody and you've never done it yourself. There's different aspects that are important to know. If you've grown up in one area and never moved, it's hard to know what that's like. 

Tim Chermak: There's a reason why too, I think, many agents who are extremely successful working with military families that are going through the PCS process that often their spouse, whether it's the husband or wife, was a member or is a member of the military where they have gone through that themselves, they know all the lingo. They know all the phrases and the terminology and all the different bases around the US. They don't have to look it up. If you name such and such base, you're talking about this town. There's a reason that that happens is because you immediately have that level of trust and familiarity if you know that someone else is also an army wife or Navy or Air Force, whatever. 

Kerri Denney: Yeah, it's a good way to connect with people. I'm very good at converting. When I first talk to people, I find something that I could relate to them with. So of course, if somebody is moving, I'll say, “Oh, I moved here from Colorado.” Some agents will immediately say, “Oh, I love living here. This is where I live. You should totally move here.” I really pride myself in giving people resources to find where their best place to live is, and how I've done that is through guides. 

Kerri Denney: I always offer value in my group. A lot of realtors that I've seen that run Facebook groups, it's pretty much just an advertisement of their business. “Here's a house I have for sale. Congratulations to these people that closed.” That's all they're posting. I rarely post things like that. I mean, I do once in a while. Obviously, I still have to try to advertise a little bit, but more so, what I try to do is I try to somehow get people in my retargeting through Platform. And so that is really important to me to couple the two, my Facebook group and then directing them to Platform where I'm then retargeting them. Because even if they're in my Facebook group, everybody in my Facebook group has not used me as a realtor. They haven't.

Tim Chermak: For sure. Well, probably 99% of them have. 

Kerri Denney: A lot of them have, yes, now that I've built it up. Now I do have people coming into my inbox, but that took a really long time because I had to not only find people that I worked with that would be my cheerleaders, that would give me recommendations on posts and things like that, but then I also had to find just a way to show that I was the person that can help you with your move. First thing I did, I learned the area really well, did some driving around. I, like I said, created all of these guides. I mean, I have guides for everything; school districts, neighborhoods with pools, just little things. 

Tim Chermak: When you say guides, just to get really specific here, do you mean a five-page PDF report, a one-page PDF? When you say a guide on local schools, what specifically are you talking about? 

Kerri Denney: I have a guide to different school districts in Huntsville. My kids are Huntsville City Schools, let's say for example, so it would be Huntsville City Schools. Here's the stats on Huntsville City Schools. Here's the number of students. Here's their test scores. And then going on to the next area, there's a map. I also have a High Schools guide as well. Basically, I would really pay attention to my group and if enough people were asking questions, time to make a guide about it. Daycares, I have one about that. A lot of people ask that. So then that is a way for me to add a level of value to somebody. 

Kerri Denney: Now they have my guide, great, and then I've also found a way that in my welcome to the group, you can do an automatic post when 25 people join your group. And I have a link to my Flodesk for my relocation guide and I get so many opt-ins. I started my Flodesk I would say probably last September, and I have over 800 subscribers in it. I get very salty when people unsubscribe from my emails, but I only send emails of value. I will send out a weekly “What's happening in Huntsville?” email, just events in Huntsville. Some people really have told me, they're like, “I look forward to email every week,” and things like that. I've just pretty much found a way to- 

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