071: Succession Plans and Maximizing Financial Opportunities with Renee Williams

Center for REALTOR® Development

Do you have a succession plan for your business when you want to leave it? Whether you have created a business that you wanted to do for life, or you decided, “I’m going to move on and take a different direction for my life, or for my business,” this conversation on phasing out of your business, and creating long-term financial resources and assets, is for everyone. Our guest, Renee, will help you see ways to invest in yourself and your business to meet your long-term goals.​

[2:32] Renee Williams is passionate about holistic business success, which includes finances, strategic planning, and retirement with passive income. She hosts the Agent Exit Podcast. Exit Strategy is huge! [3:43] Renee and Monica talk about bucket lists, plans for retirement and Monica’s current Big Why.

[5:05] Renee talks about “someday” goals and being intentional in making them happen.

[6:42] Research shows that anticipation and planning for something can provide as much enjoyment as the activity itself. Take a phone video of yourself telling what your ideal exit strategy would be. Watch it in a year and see what steps you’ve taken.

[10:15] It’s a lot easier to make the transition to exiting production when you have a written plan! What does exiting production look like if you want to keep some income after your last commission check?

[11:50] Ways to exit production:

1. Sell your business.
2. Invest in rental properties.
3. Revenue share or profit share, depending on your brokerage.
4. Receive equity in the brokerage if offered or in another business.
5. Draw down on your Solo 401(k), IRA, funds you have already set aside, and savings.

[13:11] 1. How to sell your business. Renee recommends Nick Krautter’s book, The Golden Handoff. Nick shares step-by-step instructions to sell your book of business to a known broker.

[15:57] Selling your entire business includes the database, assets, name, logo, team, and more. You may need a business broker to help you.

[18:53] As part of your planning, hire a third party to look at your business and tell you what needs to be renovated or fixed.

[22:03] If your brand is your name, it will be hard to sell your business. Rename it long before you sell it.

[25:58] Renee tells how she refers clients to other agents when she is busy.

[30:10] 2. Real estate investing is low-hanging fruit and there are many ways to invest.

[32:50] Monica invites you to listen to her episode on referrals with Gary Rogers and her episode on cash-based investing with Rich Arzaga for information.

[35:17] 3. If your brokerage offers revenue-sharing or profit-sharing, take advantage of it!

[38:12] 4. Are you with a brokerage that will allow you, if you are a top producer, to own equity in the brokerage? Ask. Times are changing for brokerages, too. They may be looking to share the burden.

[41:55] Get someone to represent you in selling your business. There are many ways to structure a sale.

[43:10] 5. Savings — when you have a transaction complete, you need to put some into the business, use some for personal expenses, set some aside for taxes, and put some into savings until retirement.

[44:51] Renee is heavily into real estate investments; her husband has stocks and some crypto. Solo 401(k)s and self-directed IRAs can both be invested in real estate.

[46:18] Monica suggests listeners listen to the Rich Arzaga episode linked below for information about finding an investment advisor who is knowledgeable about real estate.

[47:23] Renee’s advice: go to Financialwellness.realtor. There are great tools to help you figure out what your financial goals are for your age and what kind of plan you need.

[52:07] Knowing your “number” so that you can sustain the lifestyle you want after you exit production.

[52:30] Looking at what debt you can pay off now so you can get to your exit number. Social Security may not be enough for you.

[54:04] Renee’s final word is you don’t need anybody’s permission to plan your exit! Write a plan and make it plain. It is absolutely doable!

[55:05] Monica invites you to go back through past episodes to find topics you need to help you be more successful in your business. Use this podcast as a library! The earlier episodes are as relevant today!

Tweetables:

“We have to be intentional if we want ‘someday’ to actually happen. … Have an actionable plan so someday occurs. … Planning is free! It doesn’t cost you anything to write a plan!” — Renee

“If you think real estate is expensive now, just wait! Just wait! It’s going to get higher! So, there is never a bad time to buy a duplex … a triplex, or a quad!” — Renee

“Get a property manager. If you get too many [units], then you hire a property manager.” — Monica

“The equity is just going to be phenomenal. There’s just really no reason for us not to be purchasing some sort of real estate.” — Renee

“It’s good for us to get help … because we don’t know everything!” — Monica

Guest Links:

Renee Williams Group

Renee on LinkedIn

Agent Exit Podcast with Renee Williams

Nar.realtor/research-and-statistics

Financialwellness.realtor

NAR's Center for REALTOR® Development Podcast: Gary Rogers

NAR's Center for REALTOR® Development Podcast: Rich Arzaga

NAR's Center for REALTOR® Development Podcast: Melanie McLane and Rob Mehta

NAR's Center for REALTOR® Development Podcast: Bryan Bergjans and Juanita Charles

Additional Links:

Micro courses found at Learning.REALTOR

Crdpodcast.com

Learning.REALTOR for NAR Online Education

Training4RE.com — List of Classroom Courses from NAR and its affiliates

[e-mail]

Host Information:

Monica Neubauer

Speaker/Podcaster/REALTOR®

[e-mail]

MonicaNeubauer.com

FranklinTNBlog.com

Monica’s Facebook Page

Facebook.com/Monica.Neubauer

Instagram

Instagram.com/MonicaNeubauerSpeaks

Additional Bio:

Renee Williams is a former loan officer and corporate strategy administrator turned investor, REALTOR®, Director of Operations, and small business coach. For over a decade, she provided organizational support on billions of dollars in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and divestiture transactions for her corporate job, all while having a real estate license and investing on the side. Now she’s leveraging that experience to help seasoned women entrepreneurs create a business they love and secure the future for themselves and their families.