Scaling Up Success Podcast

Knowledge Is Your Script: Built a Multi-State Real Estate Business with Tristan Calabro

Ryan Van Ornum Season 1 Episode 28

What happens when a firefighter brings his values of service, integrity, and leadership into real estate?

Meet Tristan Calabro, founder of The Calabro Group, whose remarkable journey from emergency services to real estate entrepreneurship proves that trust and heart still have a place in business. Driven by a desire to spend more time with his family and take back control of his schedule, Tristan transitioned from fire trucks to open houses, building a multi-state real estate business that’s as personal as it is professional.

Operating in both Colorado and Florida, Tristan has tackled the complexities of varying state regulations and market conditions with grit and clarity. As a first-generation American, he’s also made deep cultural inroads, especially within Florida’s Italian community, connecting with clients through shared values and lived experiences.

His philosophy?
“Knowledge is your script.”

Instead of relying on rehearsed sales pitches, The Calabro Group takes a data-informed, client-first approach. By staying ahead of federal housing policies and market trends, the team offers customized guidance to everyone from first-time homebuyers to veteran investors.

What truly sets Tristan apart is his servant leadership, honed through years in the military and emergency response. Guided by a “leaders eat last” principle, he leads by example, earning the respect of his team not through hierarchy, but through support, presence, and purpose. 

The result? A tight-knit, mission-driven group committed to quality over quotas.

LinkedIn:
Tristan Calabro
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristan-calabro-420645298

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Speaker 1:

What's up everybody. This Ryan Van Ornam back with another episode of scaling up success podcast, brought to you by synergist, the place where you can scale your business at a fraction of the cost. Today I have Tristan Calabro of the Calabro group here in Colorado. Tristan, how are you today, my friend?

Speaker 2:

doing good man. How about yourself?

Speaker 1:

Man, it's a great day and I'm so excited to catch up with you. We've been friends for years, man, and I'm just so excited to hear more about what you've been doing and how you've been building out what you got going on, man. Really cool to have you on again, man.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, appreciate it. Thanks for the invite. Really cool to have you on again man.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, appreciate it. Thanks for thanks for the invite, absolutely so. Um well, tell everybody you know kind of like you're, you're, you have the Colabro group, uh, that that you've built in real estate here in Colorado.

Speaker 2:

Tell, tell everybody kind of like your, your origin story of this superhero, uh real estate group that you got going on. Man, yeah, um's pretty simple really. I was a fireman for several years in a couple different cities and I just I wanted to get into real estate. Kind of the long story, short of it, is I wanted more time with my kids. You know, of course we all think that when we get into owning our own business that we're going to have a bunch of time and then that's very quickly. Uh, you realize that's not the case, but I want to be more with present with my kids and at least this way allowed me to control a little bit more of that time. You know, I work a lot more but I can at least kind of tailor it to, you know, making sure I'm there for birthdays or for christmas and all those things I didn't have before. So that's kind of where it started as far as real estate.

Speaker 2:

And from there, you know, I had a really successful first year. I was really blessed, but I learned very quickly that there's a lot of, you know, people and people in this industry that aren't really the most trustworthy and aren't the greatest to work with at all times and I fell victim to that and I kind of decided at that point after a couple of years like, hey, listen, I want to be that beacon for people that they feel like they can come here and be really successful, they can start a really good business, learn how to do all the things that I've now done for myself, but in a way that doesn't take away, you know, 90% of their paycheck or make their life miserable. So I created my own team.

Speaker 1:

I love that man. I honestly thought the reason why you were getting out of being a firefighter and into real estate was because you got tired of doing all the calendar shoots. Yeah, yeah, Well, that was part of the diet the calendar shoots yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, that was the diet, of course.

Speaker 1:

Exactly, exactly so. Man, I know you've been extremely successful. I've seen your growth, you know, over the years and I couldn't be more proud of the success that you're having and now that you have, you know, built where you have people that you're working with on a team together. What challenges have you faced when scaling up your real estate business?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, great question. So for me personally, it's a little bit different, because we operate in multiple states. Whereas a lot of agents and teams are, you know, they're obviously in their one area, teams are, you know, they're obviously in their one area. I'm very fortunate that I have a very successful team both in Colorado, the Front Range Colorado and also Southeast Florida. So you know, palm Beach County, miami, fort Lauderdale, and so that's a really that's one of the big challenges is because you know they're two very different states.

Speaker 2:

The contracts are very different, the legal ramifications, of course, we have our national laws that we have to follow, but then there, you know, we have our state rules and our little nuances, and so that's one of the bigger challenges is making sure that I am not just proficient for myself, but now I have people that are relying on me. I've got team members that look to me. So I have to make sure that you know I understand every single contract, every single legal term, the right way to advise people, not just from a real estate perspective but from a legal standpoint as well.

Speaker 1:

Man, I love that. I love that. And you're taking care of your clients. You're taking care of your, your team members. You're taking a lot of times. You take care of your team members. You're taking a lot of times. You take care of the other side of the transaction. You know that maybe that there's people involved on the other side that maybe not have had as much experience in the contract negotiation side and understand, maybe, how the timelines are affected on certain deadlines and stuff like that. That's really I'm glad that you take that very seriously, because you know that's that's number one for a lot of people is, you know, protecting the fiduciary side of things for their clients. So that's that's wonderful that you do that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and if I can touch on that too, because you're you're a hundred percent right, and in Florida I have this conversation a lot because Florida's got more licensed agents than any state in the country and it's a significant difference. I think California is number two, but there's like $130,000 person difference there. Wow, I would say the last dozen of our transactions in Florida we've ended up having to do the majority of the other side's work because you just don't know how to prepare documents, they don't know how to follow deadlines and you know, at the end of the day, our responsibility, like you said, our fiduciary responsibilities to our clients. I want to make sure that not only they're getting a good deal, but they're protected legally. You know, everything transfers the way it should be, all of those types of things, whether they're buying or selling, and it's just not easy with the amount of new agents that just don't take the time. Everybody wants to be on selling sunset the day after they get their license. You know what I mean right, right, no.

Speaker 1:

And you brought up an interesting point because, uh, it's not just um in real estate, but a lot of different businesses, think our business genres. People think that it's going to be easy stepping into a certain career and a lot of times there's a lot of factors that you don't really see before you actually get into the business. So you know, kind of switching a little bit on this though, like as you have gotten into the real estate career genre, what unexpected opportunities have have kind of helped you along the way to experience this growth?

Speaker 2:

been kind of I've always been a really outgoing person. I like to go in you know different events and go and talk to people and speak to people. It's just kind of in my nature, which has been awesome, because a lot of real estate you know, that's what it is in the beginning, you know. And to kind of go back to what's a difficult thing for me in real estate, it's being a salesman, because I'm not a salesman, I'm, you know, I'm just a guy that wants to help people out and support my family. So that's been a really awesome opportunity for me.

Speaker 2:

Or something that's really helped me grow is, you know, just being able to be myself. You know not being so held to the constraints that I was when I was in the military, when I was a fireman. You know it's not as regimented, it's not as you know SOPs and step by step. Obviously you have those when you get into the actual you know contracts and those types of things. But that's been a really great, great thing for me being involved in the local community. I'm also first generation Italian. I mean, I'm sorry, first generation American. So my dad immigrated here as a teenager and what's really awesome is South Florida is full of the Italian community. All first generation are immigrants and so being plugged into that community also is just amazing, because I get to help people that were like my father and like myself, that don't understand or didn't understand or need assistance with real estate and operating in a new country and stuff like that and it's. It's really, really profound, it's awesome.

Speaker 1:

That is really cool, man, and props to you because you know making, making your own way from the military and the fire dog side of stuff, uh, and and building this successful business. Man, props to you. I. I've really respected your growth man. Really cool, appreciate it Absolutely. So, uh, how. One of the things, man, and uh, the thing that I kind of see is in real estate is it's almost like a uh, like shifting sands. The industry's changing constantly, so like, how do you stay ahead of those type of industry trends?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the biggest thing is being informed. I'm a big proponent, I say this all the time. My agents probably get tired of hearing it, but I don't do scripts and our agents don't do scripts, and I always tell people the same thing over and over your knowledge is your script, and I'll give you an example of what I mean by that.

Speaker 1:

So there's a lot of agents and I'm not knocking agents that do scripts.

Speaker 2:

If that's how they choose to do their business, it's totally fine. It's just for me it doesn't work that way. But I'll give you an example. You know, we are in this weird environment where, you know, one week you'll have an interest rate that's close to eight and then the next week you'll be in the high fives. Houses are sitting, houses are going it's kind of all over the place, and I really preach knowledge, knowledge, knowledge to my agents.

Speaker 2:

So learn how to read the market, learn how to follow the feds, learn how to talk to your lending partners and your title partners. What are people seeing in the market? What are buyers seeing? What are they feeling? Same thing on the sales side and when. What are people seeing in the market? What are buyers seeing? What are they feeling?

Speaker 2:

Same thing on the sales side and when you, when you learn how to do all those things and you learn how to read the data, you can, you can paint yourself a picture. That is more or less. You know. It's not an exact science, of course, but it can at least give you an idea of where things are going, based on the trends, or where you're at right now and and then from there you can determine how do I advise this particular client. Is it a business owner? Is it a first time home buyer? Is it somebody that wants to buy rental properties? You learn all those trends and you specialize in the market and your area and that'll tell you the patterns. That'll help you give at least an idea of where the market is going in the future and how to advise those clients.

Speaker 1:

Love that man. That's super solid right there. So one of the things, as you've been building out your team, how do you like I've always been told in in building teams, uh, having the right hires can make a break the business. So how do you, how do you create that strong culture that people people want to be there, want to continue to grow with you and and finding the right people to be a part of that as you continue to build it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you have that's the biggest thing, right? I mean, you're only as strong as your weakest link. And my approach to a team is I don't want there's some mega teams out there that have, you know, 20, 30, 40, 50 agents and they do a ton of volume. They do all these things. Okay, that was never my intention. You know, I'm the type of person that I set my goals for the year and whatever those volume goals are, whatever those transaction side goals are, those are what I'm going to aim for, and once I hit that, you know, I know there's a lot of agents that they're like man, once I hit my goal, I'm going to keep trucking. I'm going to keep going, you know, floor pedal to the metal and I'm going to try and double or triple or whatever. That's not me. That's not why I got into this business, and so I want to connect with other people that are like that. We're going to work really, really hard for our clients. We're going to work really, really hard for our families.

Speaker 2:

But, first and foremost, when I'm talking to agents that are interested in joining the team because we don't do any outbound marketing to get team members, we really don't when I'm talking and interviewing with these guys. I want to know what their purpose is. Why are they in real estate? Why do they want to join the team? What are their goals? What are their and it's not real estate related.

Speaker 2:

You know, a lot of times I'll hear people come and they'll tell me oh, I want to sell X amount of real estate. That's great. Whether it's 5 million, 10 million, 20 million, 2 million, whatever that goal is, that's great, we'll get you there. But I want to know why you're doing those things right. Are you a good fit that if I leave, right Like I've been burned a lot in real estate from other agents, team members, all these things and I want to have the comfort of, hey, I can go on a three-day trip or a week-long trip with my family and I can trust that an agent on my team, if they have to step in, they're not going to try and steal that client, and I want them to feel that same thing. So that's really what it's all about. If you're a good person, let's do it. Let's figure out your goals and let's make it happen.

Speaker 1:

I love that man and and building that, that camaraderie and with integrity from the start. That's huge.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off there, but if I could, one more thing too. You know A lot of agents and I don't blame them for this at all but team agents, well, they have team agreements. As soon as somebody comes on, they sign their team agreements. Hey, you can't do this, you can do this, you're withheld into these certain things. I don't do that. I look at it when I'm talking to somebody and I say listen, you want to join my team, that's great.

Speaker 2:

I look at it from a different type of leadership perspective. I have a different view on leadership. A lot of agents, especially when they get to be producing a lot, they kind of get this, you know, big head on their shoulders and they think that all their agents work for them. I don't look at it like that. My view is much more like a military fire approach Leaders eat last and lead by example type of deal. So in my look at it is hey, you want to join? If Ryan wants to join my team, I need to, as the team lead, I need to show Ryan why I deserve to earn a portion of his business. Why is Ryan or Joe or whoever? Why are they trusting me to give me a portion of their compensation. I have to earn that and I have to earn it by providing those resources. So I love that I don't. I don't do team agreements.

Speaker 2:

One day that might bite me, you know, I'm very well aware of that. But in my opinion, if I go into it with this very structured rule system, you know we're we're not starting off on a on a level of trust, we're starting off on a level of employee, employer, and that's not what I want.

Speaker 1:

No, I gotcha, and and it's got to fit the way that you feel comfortable with it, man, so do what you got to do on that side of it. So, um, what? What unique challenges do you see in your industry right now? Uh, that that are facing, you know, real estate agents as a whole that are facing real estate agents as a whole.

Speaker 2:

So I think the biggest challenge it's not anything to do with the market. That's what a lot of people focus on. Listen, houses are always going to be needed. People are always going to be buying and selling. It's just the way it is.

Speaker 2:

I think the biggest challenge for professional real estate agents is dealing with all of these newer agents that come in and they, you know, they think that they can just make a social media video and run the world of real estate. I think it's a really big problem. I think it's a problem because they're not learning the contracts, they're not learning the business and, at the end of the day, the clients are the ones that are paying the price. And the clients don't know Right, and we can't go have that conversation with the client. But for to give you a quick example, about a month ago we had an agent submit an offer and she wrote it improperly that if we wouldn't have said anything, which we had no moral obligation to do so we no legal obligation, rather, we felt we had a moral obligation to, but her client would have ended up paying $41,000 at the closing table for absolutely no reason because she filled in incorrect paperwork.

Speaker 2:

And that's the biggest real estate industry right now is. You have all of these agents and you know people joke about you know the military will take anybody with a with a heartbeat. It's easier to get your real estate license nowadays. So, yeah, right, I see the biggest problem, especially when you have these clients that are trusting this agent. The agent puts on a nice suit, they go out and rent the G-Wagon to make it look like they're doing all this business, but they're selling one house a year and then people on property. So I think that's number one, by far the biggest challenge in the real estate industry today.

Speaker 1:

Man, that's quality. Dropping some knowledge right there. My friends love that stuff right there. So as you continue to grow what's where?

Speaker 2:

where do you see your group headed in in the next year or two? That's a great question. You know where I would like to see us at. I want to just continue to grow. You know, maybe add a couple of agents here or there.

Speaker 2:

Like I said, I want to keep us really a really smaller, tight knit team. The goal is not to be a big team that does average business. The goal is to be a tight small group that does a lot of business and we're known for being ethical. We're known for being good people, known for being ethical, we're known for being good people. So that that way, if an agent on the other side, if I work with that agent and then I end up having an opportunity to do another deal with them in the future, that they're going to tell their clients hey, listen, tristan and his team, they're squared away, they know what they're doing, they're great agents. We're not going to have a problem.

Speaker 2:

That's what I want and I want our name to continue to grow and to continue to get out there so that these people, when they you know the clients, the average people when they see our name, they think of us as being that higher tiered team, right, not just your average agents. We're not making all of the social media videos where you know we're not jumping into pools with our clothes on Again, if that's the way you do your business, totally fine. We don't do it like that. I strictly operate from professionalism and I want people to see that and I want it to continue to grow in that direction.

Speaker 1:

That's phenomenal stuff right there, my friend. So, man, I could talk to you all day long on these questions, because I just love hearing your perspective on where the industry is going. I just love hearing your perspective on where the industry is going, but you know, unfortunately our time is up for tonight. But thank you so much for coming on, man. And if people are interested in your services, how can they get a hold of you, my friend?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, any social media platform, we're there. You can go on to Facebook, the Calibro group on Facebook. We're on Zillow, instagram, tristan Calibro or the Calibro group. You can find us there. Anybody is always free to message me. I'm super super open, super honest. If it's just hey, I want to briefly chat with you about something, or hey, I'm really interested, get me on any of those. You guys can call me my number's on all those platforms also, so I'm always here.

Speaker 1:

Phenomenal man. Always a pleasure getting to chat with you, my friend. It is, you know, definitely respect what you got going on in in here in Colorado and in Florida. Man, keep up the good work and best of luck in everything that you got going on, my friend.

Speaker 2:

Right on. Thanks, sir, appreciate you.

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