Under Contract

Tim Donovan
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  • Entrepreneurship

Under Contract is a show for real estate agents and team leaders who want to build a real business, not just chase the next transaction. Host Tim Donovan sits down with top-producing agents and brokers across the country to break down exactly how they built what they built. Their lead generation systems, follow-up philosophy, pricing models, team structures, and the turning points that changed everything.  No fluff, no recycled advice. Just real numbers, real strategies, and the operational details most agents never get to hear straight from the source. Plus an honest look at where AI actually helps a real estate business, and where it doesn't.  New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe if you're serious about scaling.

Episodes

  1. 13h ago

    If You Don't Answer Your Phone, Somebody Else Will: Sondra Hernandez on Responsiveness in Real Estate

    Sondra Hernandez is the broker/owner of Cobblestone Realty Partners in Enid, Oklahoma, with 23 years in the business. She spent two decades running an accounting department before a friend nudged her into real estate — a career she says she's never once looked back from. Sondra built a multilingual brokerage (three languages spoken in her office) and a business defined by one non-negotiable standard: she responds to clients in 10 to 15 minutes, every time, from 8am to 8pm. Show Notes Tim sits down with Sondra Hernandez, a 23-year real estate veteran and broker/owner out of Enid, Oklahoma, for a conversation about the one thing she believes separates her business from everyone else's: she actually responds. Not eventually — in 10 to 15 minutes, whether it's a call, text, or email, seven days a week. Her take is simple and a little blunt: if you're a realtor and you don't answer your phone, somebody else will. Sondra walks through the turning point that took her from selling $20-30K homes working 15-hour days to a fundamentally different price point — not by working harder, but by advertising differently. She talks candidly about why she deliberately built a multilingual office, why she's not afraid of hard conversations with buyers, sellers, banks, or lenders, and why she ditched every automated lead-nurture program she ever bought in favor of a personal spreadsheet system. The conversation closes with her take on where AI actually helps (branding and advertising) and her conviction that no amount of technology will ever replace the human relationships at the center of real estate. In this episode: The advertising shift that took Sondra from $20-30K homes to $150K+ — without working more hoursWhy "I respond" is Sondra's entire competitive differentiatorHer actual standard: 10-15 minute response time, 8am to 8pm, every dayWhy she built a multilingual brokerage — and the disservice she believes agents do by not offering itWhy she walked away from every paid lead-nurture program she ever boughtHer personal, spreadsheet-based follow-up system — and why she avoids automationSondra's two-part advice for any agent wanting to grow: treat it like a career, and educate yourself constantlyWhere AI actually helps her business (branding and advertising) — and where she won't hand over controlWhat she believes NAR will lose in the next 5-10 years, and why she expects a national MLSWhy she believes the human relationship in real estate can never fully be replaced

    If You Don't Answer Your Phone, Somebody Else Will: Sondra Hernandez on Responsiveness in Real Estate

  2. 1d ago

    The $300-an-Hour Filter: How Jayson Burtch Built a Southwest Florida Real Estate Empire

    Guest Bio Jayson Burtch leads a top-producing real estate team in Southwest Florida, expanding up the state's west coast into St. Pete, Sarasota, and Naples. He got his start in real estate at 18 after inheriting exposure to real estate investing through his grandfather's rental portfolio, but the real turning point came a decade later — a coaching program in 2012 that took his business from reactive and market-dependent to fully systematized. Since then, Jayson's business has roughly doubled every two to three years, built on a combination of relentless work ethic, diversified lead generation, and — more recently — AI-driven database reactivation. Show Notes Tim sits down with Jayson Burtch, a Southwest Florida team leader who's spent over a decade turning raw hustle into a systematized, scaling business. Jayson doesn't sugarcoat what it took — by his own account, his team is regularly working north of 70 hours a week, and his philosophy is blunt: "nobody works harder, I won't be outworked." But underneath the grind is a business built on real systems, starting with a 2012 coaching experience Jayson calls the single most educational year of his career. The conversation covers how Jayson's lead generation philosophy evolved from pure cold-calling to a diversified mix (still 60-65% past clients and sphere of influence, even with heavy paid lead spend), why he holds his team accountable with a hard "5 conversations before new leads get turned on" rule, and how AI is reshaping both his marketing (the shift from SEO to AEO) and his team's ability to reactivate the massive graveyard of old database leads that would otherwise convert with a competitor. Jayson also gets candid about what surprised even him about his own business — the chaos behind the curtain, and just how many hours it actually takes. In this episode: How a $400/month tool called Zillow first changed Jayson's approach to lead gen back in 2012Why "nobody outworks me" is Jayson's actual operating philosophy, not just a taglineThe coaching program Jayson calls the most pivotal moment of his careerJayson's follow-up accountability system: 5 real conversations before agents get new leadsWhy 60-65% of his business is still past clients and sphere of influence, despite heavy paid ad spendThe "$300-an-hour job" filter Jayson uses to evaluate whether he's actually working like it mattersHow AI is helping Jayson's team re-engage old leads that would otherwise convert with someone elseThe shift from SEO to AEO (answer engine optimization) as more buyers start their search with AIWhy Jayson believes the agent population will shrink 65% in the next 5-7 years — but agents themselves aren't going anywhereJayson's advice to his younger self: get properly educated, and don't listen to negativity about coaching

    The $300-an-Hour Filter: How Jayson Burtch Built a Southwest Florida Real Estate Empire

  3. 3d ago

    Social Media Won't Build Your Business... Here's What Actually Does

    Guest Bio Ben Nemec is a real estate agent and team leader in Huntsville, Alabama, running Team Nemec / Huntsville Homes For You. He got his start in real estate after his mother-in-law, a longtime Huntsville agent, brought him on as a partner following an unconventional path through hospitality management, nonprofit sports sponsorships, and a near-miss Coast Guard officer application. Thirteen years later, Ben leads a team built on referral-driven business, disciplined database follow-up, and a firm conviction that relationships — not platforms — are what actually grow a real estate business long-term. Show Notes Tim sits down with Ben Nemec, a 13-year real estate veteran and team leader out of Huntsville, Alabama, for a conversation that pushes back hard against one of the industry's most repeated assumptions: that social media is the engine of growth. Ben's take is blunt — it's a facet you have to lean into, but it will not bring you long-term success. What does? The relationships you build, how you treat people, and the job you do for your clients, compounded over years, not months. Ben walks through his own unconventional path into the business, the moment he realized real estate has no overnight success stories, and the specific systems — signed calls, open houses, database touches — that have quietly outperformed paid leads for his team for over a decade. He also opens up about the boundaries he had to learn the hard way to protect his family, and gives a clear-eyed take on where AI actually fits into a relationship-driven business. In this episode: Why Ben believes social media "will not bring you long-term success" — and what he tells his team insteadBen's unconventional path into real estate — hospitality school, the Orange Bowl, and a near-miss Coast Guard officer applicationWhy there's no such thing as overnight success in real estate ("a slow burn, month after month, year after year")Ben's actual lead generation philosophy: sphere of influence, signed calls, and open houses over paid leadsThe #1 way agents leak opportunities they already have (and it's not lead volume)Why Ben credits his CRM (Brivity) for keeping follow-up from falling through the cracksThe moment that changed how Ben protects his time with family — and why he got emotional telling itHow Ben's team uses Claude Cowork — and where he still won't let AI near a client relationshipBen's advice for any agent wanting to grow in the next 12 monthsLooking 5 years ahead: what changes in real estate, and what never will

    Social Media Won't Build Your Business... Here's What Actually Does

  4. 4d ago

    Why This Indiana Broker Charges 1% and Still Sells 100+ Homes a Year

    Guest Bio Drew Wyant is a real estate agent and broker/owner in Columbus, Indiana, running a 1% Lists franchise that now spans nearly the entire state. After leaving a 10-year healthcare career and getting licensed in 2021, Drew built his business from 11 sales in his first year to 130+ in a single year as an individual agent — while also growing a team of 23+ agents managing roughly 100 active listings and 75 pendings at any given time. His full-service, 1% commission model has become his core differentiator in a market of 1.8 million+ competing agents. Show Notes Tim sits down with Drew Wyant, a 1% Lists broker/owner out of Columbus, Indiana, who went from cold-calling For Sale By Owners in his first year to running a 23-agent team covering the whole state. Drew breaks down the pivot that changed everything — realizing he was already netting 1% on relocation deals and deciding to just charge that upfront — plus his philosophy on follow-up, referrals as "compound interest," and where AI actually belongs in a real estate business (hint: not between you and the client). In this episode: How Drew went from 11 sales his first year to 130+ in his best yearThe relocation-fee insight that led him to launch a 1% commission modelWhy "good customer service" is not a unique value propositionHis actual follow-up cadence (7-8+ touches before a lead converts)Running a 23-agent brokerage while staying personally active in salesWhere AI helps (compliance, paperwork, transaction coordination) vs. where it hurts (client relationships)The "flywheel" argument for prioritizing deal volume over margin early onOne piece of advice Drew would give himself on day one

    Why This Indiana Broker Charges 1% and Still Sells 100+ Homes a Year
  • 4 Episodes

About

Under Contract is a show for real estate agents and team leaders who want to build a real business, not just chase the next transaction. Host Tim Donovan sits down with top-producing agents and brokers across the country to break down exactly how they built what they built. Their lead generation systems, follow-up philosophy, pricing models, team structures, and the turning points that changed everything.  No fluff, no recycled advice. Just real numbers, real strategies, and the operational details most agents never get to hear straight from the source. Plus an honest look at where AI actually helps a real estate business, and where it doesn't.  New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe if you're serious about scaling.

Information

  • Creator
    Tim Donovan
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Under Contract
  • Show Website
    Under Contract