We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael D. Lester a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Michael D., thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
There is a mantra I stick to: “Circumstances don’t matter. Only my state of being matters. What state of being do I prefer?”
When starting any new career, there’s always a lame-duck period of learning and gaining experience in that new field that could leave a person feeling like they are “faking it.” I knew I was going to be successful in the world or real estate, and I knew that if I kept my mental sharpness and focus on that energy, I would be unstoppable. So, anytime I get bogged down or have too many fires to put out and feel overwhelmed, I close my eyes and chant that mantra. My state of being is that I am the top realtor in the Greater New Orleans area, and I know I can assist my clients better than any other realtor and it’s not even close. That is the state of being I prefer, and it allows all the noise to calm and allows me to focus on that specific vibration and put it out into the world in a positive way.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
At MDL Homes & Luxury , our mission is to provide our clients with the best possible real estate experience. We strive to exceed expectations and provide exceptional customer service every step of the way as the top, full service real estate agency.
We pledge to be in constant communication with our clients, keeping them fully informed throughout the entire Buying or Selling process. We guarantee that you and your family will be left with an amazing experience! We don’t measure success through these achievements; instead our success depends on the happiness and satisfaction of each and every one of you!
We are in the top 5% of agents in the entire Greater New Orleans Area, and being a part of Keller Williams, we are not only the top brokerage in market share for the GNO, but also Keller Williams is the top brokerage in the entire country. With hundreds of thousands of KW agents around the world (and having a direct connection to them being in the KW Luxury division), we have the ability to advertise your home on a national level to all agents who have clients relocating here. We all know New Orleans is a melting pot of cultures, and this gives us the ability to potentially reach hundreds of thousands of buyers planning to move to New Orleans from around the entire world.
As far as our local-level marketing goes, we know filling out an MLS form, sticking a generic sign in the yard, and hoping the property sells is what most unqualified agents do. We are fortunate enough to be partnered with Good Bones Photography, and set ourselves apart as marketing experts with our individual marketing plans per property with 3D Virtual Tours, HD Photos, Individual Property Websites with QR codes, and strategic, algorithm-based Social Media marketing that allows your property to be stationed on over 300 housing websites across the world-wide-web, and on average your property will be seen by 15,000 people in just 3 days. Also, as a member of Homes.com, your listing will be featured at the top of their website as they continue to funnel over $4B in marketing to bring interested buyers and agents to their site in their goal to take over Zillow as the top housing website of the future!
We pride ourselves on thorough market research, pricing analysis, and being neighborhood translation experts. As the CEO of MDL Homes & Luxury, I attend weekly meetings with the top lenders and insurance agents to stay fully up to date with mortgage rates, insurances and changes upcoming in the GNO real estate market. With over $50M sold in just over half a decade, we are 100% confident we can get your home sold. Through our hundreds of transactions we have the experience to fight for you to get the best deal on your home sale, and the emotional bandwidth to take the majority of the stress off of your plate.
Below you can see my achievements in the industry:
*Awards & Accolades*
KW Productivity Coach 2024
KW Associate Leadership Council (ALC) 2024
NAHREP Member
Voted “2019 Rookie of the Year” by Keller Williams Realty
Received the “2021 Rising Star” Award by Real Producers Magazine
Voted one of the “Top Real Estate Agents in the GNO” for 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 by New Orleans Magazine
Nominated for “2022 Realtor of the Year” by the New Orleans Metropolitan Area of Realtors (NOMAR)
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I learned early on that it’s not about the commission; it’s about the people.
Coming from a waiter position where every tip depended on my ability to make rent and pay
my bills, my first thought upon getting my real estate license was, “Larger tips that just take
longer.” So, all I wanted to do is make more commission checks—and this reflected on how I
composed myself in my fake-it-’til-you-make-it attitude. Let’s be honest, every real estate agent
is faking it when they first get licensed…you have no idea what you’re doing at this point.
While working 8 AM – 4 PM at the restaurant and 5 PM – til in real estate, all I couldn’t think
about was: A) I need to make more money, & B) I need to get far away from the restaurant
industry. (That $5 on $120 was the last straw!) However, during the hustle that very first year, I
had a very rude awakening.
One of my very good, old friends had reached out to me after seeing the Facebook message I
sent him, and he wanted to meet for a buyer consultation with his wife. So, I remember
meeting them at the restaurant where I was working and paying for their lunch (with my
employee discount), and discussing how broke they were. They had 3 kids, one of which had
special needs, and they lived in a tiny trailer in a trailer park that not only felt like it was going to
fall down every time you walked from from to back, but also poured water inside from a large
hole in the roof every time it rained. They said the owner of the trailer would not repair the hole
no matter how many times they asked, and even got to the point where they were going to
have their parents buy the piece of garbage from the owner (for way too much money) so they
could fix it themselves.
Being a good friend, of course I jumped into action. I got him and his wife both pre-approved
with a sketchy local lender since their credit wasn’t great, and got them approved for a
$100,000 property. (It’s hilarious that I’ve done deals worth millions of dollars and this one
means the most to me.) After digging into the MLS and sending them what was available, I
found them a double-wide manufactured home in Pearl River on one acre of land that they
loved. It was priced at $110,000, but we were able to negotiate down to $99,000 with the seller
paying all the closing costs. The listing agent tried to send another counter, but it’s the highest
my clients could go—AND I explained their situation to both the listing agent and seller who
were together on speaker phone. Luckily for my people, the seller was older and decided to
have a heart—the offer was accepted. Step 1—Done. Next we hit the inspections and the
place was flawless. We accepted it in its current condition and told the sweet couple we were
in the home stretch! Now it was just up to the lender to close the loan…
And just like that—not quite. Remember that sketchy lender? Well he calls me and tells me he
can’t close the loan because the property was labeled a “manufactured home.” Why they
didn’t look up the home before we had gone through the process of inspections or even
submitted an offer still baffles me to think about to this day. Since we were already through our
inspection period, I had to call my clients and tell them the bad news. Heartbroken is an
understatement — I had just shown them the light only to throw a reverse UNO card. They
were in tears. They had given a $1,000 deposit that they couldn’t afford (yes they would get it
back but they didn’t need the money back, they needed a new home), and now were right
back where they started.
It was at this moment my entire mentality about everything changed. I didn’t give a damn
about my commission I was owed. My empathy overpowered all of those “I need more money”
thoughts. I didn’t care about anything besides getting this desperate family into this manufactured house to better their lives—to better their future. I refused to let myself allow this
to happen. I made calls. I drove to lenders offices hours away that I heard did loans on
manufactured homes when they didn’t answer the phone. After a month of extensions and
postponing the listing agent with pity party stories, I finally found a lender willing to take on the
loan after looking at all the facts.
It took 2 more months for them to close the loan. The level of stress I endured on a daily
basis between the listing agent threatening to not have the extensions signed and trying to
comfort my buyer clients with positivity was grueling. But, we finally—after 4 months, 3 of
which were absolute torture—got the clear-to-close. I will never forget the image implanted in
my mind of the final walk-through. The grandmother was there, the kids were there, and their
new puppy (they got to help their child with special needs) was there the day before closing.
The 3 kids were chasing each other around the living room playing with the puppy, all while the
grandmother and my clients were in tears hugging each other. I swear I will never forget this
moment as long as I live. Nothing else mattered in this moment but this family. I changed their
life against all odds and gave them an amazing house with an acre of land for their children to
grow up on.
I broke down in tears myself that day. From that day forward, I vowed to not ever make it about
the commission check, but about helping people better their lives—help them achieve what
they didn’t think was possible. I gave up portions of my commission on another deal here, and
paid for inspections for another deal there. I paid to have a septic tank pumped in Slidell and
also fully stocked a family’s pantry after closing since they used almost all their savings for their
closing costs. I fully contribute this Shift in my mindset to allowing me to go from selling 8
homes in my first year to 36 my second year. Word got around that I was in it to actually help
people, and word spread quickly. My clients were telling everyone about me.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
My #1 obstacle is myself. Being an entrepreneur, what I put in I get out; and working as hard as I do sometimes the drive subsides and I just need a break. Many say I’m too hard on myself, but I just saw time taken for myself as time wasted that I should be putting into my business.
This led to 3 years of burnout.
I would work endless hours, 7 days a week, from January all the way to October, and then I would completely burn out and have to recover and get my mind back in the drivers seat for the last 3 months of the year. Rinse & Repeat.
I’ve since taken on looking ahead and planning to take a half day or even a full day off in order to recharge; or even driving somewhere for the weekend with my family to get some down time. These days off have changed my entire world, and allow me to hit it hard when I need to, and also take the time off I need for my mental health. It was a challenge at first, but the clarity I get from taking the time for myself has been crucial to my success today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mdl-homes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sellwithmdl
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/buyandsellwithmdl
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdl-homes/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/sellwithmdl
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sellwithmdl
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
