The one striking factor that makes anyone stand out in any industry is their expertise. There’s also another essential that brings an entrepreneur closer to success — sticking to the process. This holds true for any challenging industry like real estate that further branches out to different niches.
The real estate industry is constantly evolving, and it takes a great measure of accountability, organization, and structure to create any successful deal.
Alex Leveto is an anomaly in the business world, being only 18 years old when he acquired his license and stepping up as the COO and Vice President of the Realty Companies at the age of 24. He is committed to make a brighter future for his company and focuses on residentially zoned land for apartments, single family, townhomes, and condos.
Alex is driven by his personal adage — be a master of one, rather than a jack of all trades — and this has given him the edge and well-earned reputation in his personal niche: land. His dedication toward a narrow category in real estate has also allowed him to build a loyal clientele while developing credibility to connect with several buyers and sellers.
Developing into a leader
High-quality leaders translate a company’s strategy to results. They hold the responsibility to sustain quality, service, innovation, and financial performance. But creating such leaders is notoriously difficult and is mostly a result of consistent experimentation, succeeding, failing, and finally discovering your true strengths.
Alex’s earliest leadership memory was as a wide-eyed, 16-year-old teenager. Stepping into the first professional role of his life, he entered the world of sales and shaped his skills, interests, and passion.
As years passed, he joined a network marketing business to sell energy drinks and health products. While he occupied a leadership position, he learnt the skill to lead. This meant connecting, motivating, and inspiring a sense of ownership of shared objectives.
He had to learn to heighten his capacity to lead others by thinking and acting proactively. “I led a team of 50 people, and before I graduated high school, I became obsessed with entrepreneurship,” he recalls.
These experiences taught him how to lead well as it is a continuous and committed journey of personal development. He says, “I always looked up to those who mentored me and couldn’t wait for the day that I would have a business of my own.”
Aspirations and Success
Alex hinges on extreme focus to make the most out of his day. He understands the flexibility in his schedule that the industry offers and proactively decides to stay disciplined with time management. “Keeping a to-do list in priority order helps me stay on task,” he adds.
Additionally, his attention is divided between the daily functions of the business as well as his personal deals and projects. He works closely with every agent in his brokerage to ensure their personal success, which is the most fulfilling role to him. “I am always on the pulse of what is happening within the company and where we are headed in the future,” he shares.
As a young, talented, and successful entrepreneur, Alex recalls learning the importance of a balanced work and life much later in his journey. He says, “I have overworked myself before and have learned how to manage that and work hard on my life as well.”
Now, to ensure a work-life balance, the weekends are about resting and recharging. “My fiancé and I are an adventurous couple; we love to travel and experience the world together. Sometimes a quick getaway or vacation helps improve our motivation and inspires us to get back to the careers we both love and share,” he adds.
It is also important to manage your emotions along with the direction of the company. The key to understanding the music of leadership is to embrace adversities and accolades in the same stride.
Alex shares that these experiences shaped his ideas and actions as he evolved to undertake more serious and responsible roles in the company. “I have been in the trenches starting out and have experienced what any new agent has gone through and that has helped me come up with a game plan for the company moving forward. Through every experience I have learned something, so I have no regrets,” he adds.
Big things happen when you commit yourself to a cause bigger than yourself, while expecting nothing in return. In fact, this kind of commitment permeates the culture of the team, the company and eventually the client experience.
Alex is so driven beyond the obvious, that his actions are contagious and serves as a pillar of empowerment and guidance. Undoubtedly, his team are in awe of his determination and drive because for him, every day is about being better than the previous day and every challenge is a learning opportunity in disguise. He cares deeply about the brand, his team, and the impact he has on the community.
Alex also thinks it is important to always remember your purpose and to get off of the “hamster wheel” sometimes as life is too short and he wants to accomplish goals outside of business as well.
Fulfilling his family legacy
As a fourth-generation family member in the real estate business, Alex feels it is both an honor and responsibility to carry on such an incredible legacy.
He is driven to make his father and grandfathers proud, to learn from their wisdom, and to build even bigger and better upon the foundation he was fortunate enough to have started for him. “I hope I will have a son or daughter one day to pass the business onto as well, and I think about the future generations in all that I do,” he adds.
In the most recent years, Alex has started expanding the business not only into more locations but also into more categories of commercial estate. “We are now the largest land brokerage in the Southeast, known for our work in both suburban and urban markets,” he shares.
From there, he encouraged structured dialogue, in which he carefully selected people reflected together on their roles in the firm, and the development opportunities they can create for their clientele.
In 2021, he hired 20 additional full-time agents, opened 3 more locations in the Southeast, and had the best year in sales after 36 years of operation. At the same time, he brokered 32 properties and reached a major goal in his personal net worth.
Alex moved slowly to achieve effective results. He imbibed the values of being thoughtful and deliberate and lived up to the same ideals himself.
Today, he takes pride in sharing that his team has nearly 11 times the deals in the pipeline than in the previous year. It has been incredibly rewarding for him to experience the tremendous growth in the past few years and he is excited to see all that his talented agents continue to accomplish.
Alex believes that land will always be the core of his business, but he is excited to build an investment sales platform as his newest sector that would include selling pre-existing buildings like apartment complexes and industrial buildings.
Cultivating contagious commitment
Alex Leveto has created an effective vision statement that seeps into the minds and actions of his team members. The approach is simple, and repetition is what makes it a roaring success.
It’s not easy to create a collective sense of purpose, enthusiasm, and commitment. Several trials and tribulations led to creating harmony and excellence amidst the diversity of thoughts and opinions.
This led to few invaluable lessons and Alex takes pride in sharing them as an advice with aspiring and emerging leaders and entrepreneurs, especially in the real estate sector.
He believes in “standing on the shoulders of giants” to innovate and be creative in finding your personal niche as this will strengthen your skills in your niche of comfort. Moreover, finding a mentor enables you to see further and their existing experience gives you a rare opportunity to improve upon it and take the vision to new directions.
Once you have clarity on your niche, the next logical step is to stick to the process till the end — the good, bad, and ugly. In his experience, he has witnessed many people — agents and brokers — put themselves through unnecessary strain and play every part for everyone. This will only lead to clutter in the head and chaos in every action, so avoid being everything at once.
Finally, he strongly suggests learning as many tasks that accelerate your earning capacity. In the real estate business this would include making meaningful phone calls, establishing a relationship with owners, and strategically closing deals.
Fast-tracking the future
Alex takes pride in his firm’s values— integrity, passion and professionalism — along with relationships that have formed the foundation of his business.
With highly rewarding solutions in different areas of expertise like brokerage, valuation & advisory, market analysis, construction & development advice, 1031 tax deferred exchanges, site planning, engineering and contractor support, his team is driven to provide premium client experience at every step.
For Alex, the future is exciting and brimming with possibilities. Professionally, he sees his company’s growth as exponential. “I am humbled by this opportunity to share about our work, successes, and goals, and I think we will only continue to break records,” he adds.
On a personal front, he is excited to start a new phase in his life by getting married to the love of his life, settling into their first home, spending more time traveling and soaking up all the experiences the world can offer him.
