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This article was last updated Jan. 12, 2023.
Broker Spotlight: Troy Palmquist, Doora Properties
Title: Founder
Brokerage: Doora Properties, powered by Side
Location: Ventura County, California
Experience: 21 years
Size: 40 agents
Transaction sides: 90 (2022)
3 reasons Troy Palmquist is in the spotlight
- Troy Palmquist founded The Address in 2017 and, with his marketing and branding acumen, took it from one small office in the Channel Islands harbor to five offices throughout Southern California.
- Although 2020 was a “dumpster fire” for most, Palmquist was also diagnosed with thyroid cancer mid-pandemic. After much introspection, he decided to leave The Address and launch his newest venture Doora Properties, a full-service brokerage and home-design firm. (The Address was subsequently acquired by Corcoran.)
- Palmquist enjoys creating content, often appearing on panels and podcasts. He is also a frequent contributor to Inman.
How did you choose your brokerage?
I decided to start my own brokerage because I didn’t find a fit locally for me. I felt that there was something lacking in the offerings from the big box brokerages, whether it was support services, technology or other elements.
What do you wish more people knew about working in real estate?
Real estate is a relationship-based business, whether it’s the agent to the customer or the brokerage to their customer, which is ultimately the real estate agent.
What are 5 things you’d like readers to know about you and your brokerage?
- We’re agent-centric. We recognize that our agents are the customers for the brokerage. Our customer also has a customer and we have to make sure that both are happy.
- Luxury isn’t defined by a price point but by a level of service.
- Technology and support are only as good as the people who want to use them. We offer a lot of technology and a lot of support and hands-on-training for the tech, but if an agent doesn’t utilize it, embrace it and lean in on it, we can’t help them grow
- We have a vertical integration with a company that matters to the consumer. Not escrow and title or home warranty or home mortgage services but interior design services and home furnishings.
- There are multiple ways that people do their business, and as a brokerage we have to be able to support those different pillars of prospecting — whether it’s doorknocking, cold calling or farming.
What’s your top prediction for 2023?
I think the market’s going to normalize, but the agents who aren’t hustling aren’t going to make it. The agents who have their noses down and who are hustling are going to pick up market share and thrive. This is not a market that’s going to be easy on a lot of real estate agents.
Tell us about an epic fail you’ve experienced since you’ve been a broker. What did you learn?
Don’t sell your company. When you sell your company, you lose control of your own destiny.