JPAR Real Estate Brand President and CEO of Company Owned Operations Mark Johnson innately understands the big picture in real estate. The renowned businessman and human performance coach can pinpoint the obstacles that hold most agents back and eloquently deliver the words they need to hear most. That ability comes from years of helping real estate agents break through to the next level by focusing on just a few key actions that move the needle.
As Johnson and his team approach the end of the year, we sat down with the Frisco-based brand and brokerage that has created more than $8 billion in sales volume with nearly 4,000 agents across the United States.
CD: Since its local founding in 2011 until today, JPAR Real Estate continues to experience impressive growth year over year. How would you describe JPAR Real Estate’s DNA today?
MJ: JPAR Real Estate is a brand started by top producers, for top producers. The leadership staff all have either sold real estate or are actively still selling real estate, so we understand what moves the needle. That means looking at the real estate transaction from A to Z and providing the training, tools, tactics, and technology necessary for JPAR brokers and sales associates to be successful in any market.
CD: JPAR was acquired by Utah-based Cairn Real Estate Holdings in 2021. What has that meant for the company?
MJ: As an independent, privately-owned company, we can make decisions for the long term without the pressures of Wall Street. The beauty of being a company in growth mode, as we are, is that we can utilize revenue to coach and train our deserving agents.
CD: This year JPAR invited 1,000+ agents to an exclusive professional development session with Tom Ferry called “The Shifting Market Playbook.” What is the playbook and why has it changed?
MJ: This initiative focuses on teaching our agents how they may achieve stable growth and profitability in a changing market. We focus on providing the tools, tactics, and technology necessary for JPAR brokers and sales associates to navigate the shifting market while keeping more money in their pockets. About 15 percent of the participants engaged a full-time coach for a one-year period. That’s a big commitment to their personal and professional growth.
CD: JPAR is a flat-fee capped rate brokerage. What does that mean and what else sets JPAR apart from other real estate brokerages?
MJ: We are a 100 percent commission brokerage that recreates a full-service experience at a flat-fee, capped rate. JPAR has always been about the agent with our 100 percent commission structure and tremendous benefits. And we were one of the first to offer healthcare and retirement programs for our agents
A key to our success has been working backward from “yes” and placing the agent at the center of the transaction experience first. We are focused on continuously innovating a competitive model for our brokers and agents that enables them to grow their businesses while providing a culture of empowerment. So our model is attractive to more and more real estate professionals for a very simple reason: we keep our promises to owners and agents by doing what we say we are going to do while supporting the communities where we live and work.
CD: What does empowering an agent to be successful mean? What are the keys to agent or broker success?
MJ: Selling real estate is hard work, and it requires discipline and accountability. We work to establish achievable goals through proven systems with our brokers and agents; however, it is important to recognize the difference. For example, losing 10 pounds by the end of the year is a goal. Learning how to change your eating habits is a system.
A growth mindset is No. 1 on my list of things needed to drive success. The four things required in order of importance are:
•A growth mindset
•A solid gameplan
•Selling and marketing skills
•Enabling tools and resources
CD: What’s ahead for JPAR in 2023?
MJ: Growth, giving back helping our associates and their clients build wealth through real estate. We recently published the JPAR wealth building blueprint and this will be a driving focus from us to our associates in 2023.
Here is what I would say to your readers both in and out of the industry, “If you can find a house or investment property that meets your financial expectations for a monthly payment or return and it’s a good time for you to buy, then do that now. If you wait for prices to fall, but they never do or do so only modestly, you may discover the hard way that the house or investment property you found a year ago that you really loved that you could afford but you passed up on, is more expensive in the years to come.”
