How The Right System Combined with Persistence Can Boost Your Sales & Scale Your Business

Listen to us on Spotify:

In this episode, Carlos Concepcion, Chief of Sales at TREM Group, sits down with Rie Nakai, a top-producing luxury real estate agent with The Audrey Ross Team at Compass. Rie shares her remarkable journey—from arriving in the U.S. with just two suitcases to closing over $40 million in sales. Discover how she leveraged digital marketing, CRM systems, and Compass’ Private Exclusives to break into Miami’s competitive luxury market. Tune in for powerful insights into lead generation, off-market opportunities, and what to expect from Miami’s real estate scene in 2025.

Video full transcription

Carlos: Hi, welcome to another episode of the pipeline, the show where we want to showcase high top producer agents. And today I’m very happy to have one of my friends, Rie Nakai, top luxury agent with the Audrey Ross team and top producer agent uh compass in the South Florida market. Welcome, Rie. How are you?

Rie: Thank you, Carlos, for giving us time to do interview today.

Carlos: Oh, I love, I love talking to you and I think we we started a you know a working relationship a couple years back and I I think it’s very valuable to highlight and for people that are watching us to know the story of ages like yourself who are growing your business or day in and day out working to be better. So, thank you for joining us today.

Rie: No, thank you Carlos. Thank you so much.

Carlos: Uh for those people that are watching us today, um what was your your starting as a real estate professional? How did that look like? How long ago did you start?

Rie: Okay. So, originally I’m from Japan. So, I’m not from here. So, I came here with a two suitcase uh 13 years ago and you know so it was little little bit difficult for me to start because I didn’t have any connections. Uh beginning I came here for cheerleader for a sports team. I don’t say which team but

Carlos: I want to know. I want to know.

Rie: So I was in a entertainment sports uh industry. That was a good uh connection I have for real estate. But I really started from nothing. Um I started from little rental properties. I did like 1,000 per month rentals, some sometimes 3,000, you know, I didn’t get any like listings uh for, you know, for sale. But uh after I joined Audrey Ross team compass uh she my mentor is Audrey Ross. She taught me the way to go up to become a luxury real estate uh advisor and that’s changed my life. So she actually really changed my life to become the better real estate agent and you know uh give me the confidence to be a great real estate agent in South Florida.

Carlos: Audrey is amazing and if she’s watching this, Audrey, we love you here. We know what you’ve done for the community, for your business, and for the entire city of Miami. So, we definitely love everything that you do. So, I want to thank Audrey.

Rie: Yes, thank you Audrey.

Carlos: But how long ago did you start? You said how how long?

Rie: So, with Audrey is already three years. So, three years ago, I joined Compass and you know, I met Audrey in Colorado Gables and I started my uh journey.

Carlos: Well, Compass is one of the biggest brokers

Rie: Yes

Carlos: And one of the highest names when you mention luxury real estate in the nation. Now, how how does that work? How do you feel working with such a team?

Rie: So, Compass is uh right now is market share is number one in nationwide especially South Florida, Miami. So, if I mention that everybody knows the name because they see the signs, they see the names, they hear the names, you know. So and people knows that compass is really uh known for technology. So that’s people love about you know technology everything is technology right now. So uh that’s why it’s great branding to be a compass agent and the top producing team, Audrey Ross team that’s my, you know, back you know like they they they give me the li leverage leverage to be the luxury real estate agent. Yes.

Carlos: Yeah. I think that uh as business owners and you know compass as a industry leader you know big companies they want to work with other people that are doing the right things that are growing that are you know intentional about their growth and compass as a broker promotes a lot of that. If you’re a Compass agent and you’re watching this video, let me tell you, we are also preferred vendors uh for Compass nationwide. And the same way we are uh working with RI, we work with other Compass agents nationwide. So, we do see that you guys are at the forefront of the industry. I see you guys using and leveraging all the technology that is available through you, the Compass CRM, the collection, the Compass exclusives.

Rie: Yes

Carlos: How have these tools uh and the vendors and the partners that you work with, how does that affect your business day to-day?

Rie: Yes. So, you mention about the private exclusive which I really use for any listings. So, because some sellers doesn’t want to list their home publicly because of the you know family situations or they don’t want to go on the public. No, you know, you don’t want a neighbor to know that you are selling, right? So it’s great to use a private exclusive because we have that tool to do that because compass website is such a huge like become like a zero or you know big uh website. So we can actually market privately not knowing not letting any everybody knows that you are selling your home and actually we have a successful story about that.

Carlos: Amazing. That’s great resource. And Ria, tell me a little bit more about how do you generate new clients? How do you get new business in the door? I mean, last year was a tough year for the real estate industry. We had a lot of um changes when it came to the nar settlement, high interest rates, and you know, fluctuations in the market on the presidential year. So how how do you leverage everything that goes on in the market and how do you stay at the forefront generating new clients?

Rie: Yes. So, me every day I have two three hours to do lead generation you know? I always try to get new clients, five clients a day that’s my goal a day. So that’s, that’s what I do every day even though I have a showings or you know I have a listing appointment for me it’s most important and focusing on is finding five new clients every day and that’s how you, how you do that by calling I don’t do really door knocking because I’m afraid but I do a lot of calling and I do a lot handy little note and also you know I spoke to if you if you sell this house I spoke to the neighbors try to say, “Oh, I sold this house. You know, if you need anything, I’m here.” So when I sell something, I try to talk to the neighbors to give our our services. So I think it’s really important to finding new clients every day is I think that’s make me successful to have a pipeline every month, every year, every 10 years, you know, from now

Carlos: And that’s a lot for the listing side on how you get listings and do these calls

Rie: Yes

Carlos: But how do you attract buyers?

Rie: So buyers, you know, thank you to Carlos. Uh the TREM is the best. Without TREM, I don’t think I have a buyers, buyers pipeline, you know. So uh buyers uh TREM makes us to generate a lot of leads every month from miamirealestate.com. We have the best domain name and uh that’s why I have a really qualified buyers every month, every day.

I’m here sitting in a beautiful Key Biscayne listing. I this is just listed. Uh it’s a 545 seal pal drive. This is actually started from private exclusive listing. So I, you know, find this listing by phone call. It’s not really cold calling but try to um offer my services and they say that oh let’s me and that’s how I met with seller and we you know? We actually really become like a friend and then they give me the listings but for buyers um I just sold the one here in Harbour Drive 701 harbor is are coming from newer website the TREM amazing TREM um they you know they give me the great leads from Romania. Uh they came to actually uh look for a condominium in Sunny Isles uh beach. But they said that you know what I want to see houses too. And I took them to Pinecrest, Key Biscayne, Coral Gables. And they just love Key Biscayne living, you know, this close to ocean, you know, close to Yatch Club, you know, close to everything and super safe here, you know. So, you know, that’s that’s fall in love with Key Biscayne and they found brand new construction 8.8 million and I did only three days showing that’s it. and I closed the highest uh no waterfront home in Key Biscayne. Uh I made a record, so

Carlos: Congratulations

Rie: Thank you so much

Carlos: Um, Rie uh what is it in for the next year? How do you see the industry moving in Miami?

Rie: Yeah. So I think January from January it it will be really busy season. Everybody’s you know after elections everybody’s ready to buy you know everybody ready to sell. So I think inventory level going to go really high up but also buyers is ready to buy. I think it’s going to be amazing year in 2025.

Carlos: What are some of the opportunities that you see on the South Florida market? Do you think single family homes, condo pre-construction? Where do you see the market going?

Rie: I think single family home is stable. You know it’s always sell but the condo some condo has a special assessment issues. So I think more people are start selling because they can afford to pay HOA special assessment. So inventory will going to really increase uh the condos meaning probably hopefully price a little bit drop but um but still it’s going to be amazing year for both homes and condos.

Carlos: Well I know you’re going to do great because I know you and I know that you work very hard every day to grow your business to increase your sales build a brand that you’ve definitely successfully built in the past couple of years. So if you were to give a an advice to somebody that’s starting on the business that is just recently joining real estate in these times right looking back to when you started what are some of the advices that would you give uh a new agent to succeed in today’s real estate market?

Rie: For that advice I think it to focus on finding new clients every day and generate lead every day is most important it’s not just doing documents or show going to showing or just attending open houses. You need to talk to new people every day and try to offer your services. That’s the best advice I can give and be confidence. You know the beginning I I did I wasn’t confident but if you are not not confidence clients feel that and that’s not good. So if you are confidence they will feel that even you if you are new. I think that’s the best advice I can give you.

Carlos: So be confident, stay strong, keep working hard. Uh you know, like she said, focus on attracting new clients, the right clients. And you know, it’s my pleasure to share this space. I know these are short format interviews so our viewers can learn about you and if they were to want to know more, right? If other agents are watching this show and they want to connect with you, send you referrals or ask questions about the South Florida market, how can they find you?

Rie: So just simply Google Rie Nakai. Uh you it shows in Google at the top, So R I E N A K A I. You will see my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter X.

Carlos: That’s beautiful.

Rie: And also I have a Japanese website. It’s called rienakai.com in Japanese. So uh yeah.

Carlos: Is there any message that you want to give to maybe Japanese speaker, you know, that that you want to let them know what what’s going on in Miami

Rie: In Japanese?

Carlos: Yes

Rie: You’re not going to understand

Carlos: I can always say thanks at the end, but for you and you can always, you know

Rie: [Speaks Japanese]

Carlos: And just like that, thank you so much

Rie: Thank you

Carlos: It’s always a pleasure to connect. I appreciate so much the opportunity to be here with you today and and have this space to to thank you so much. Thank you, Carlos. Thank you so much.