"Believe in yourself" How Anne Lusk Sold over 1 Billion Dollars as a agent NGDR Episode #3

Anne M. Lusk is a real estate broker and founder of Lusk Associates Sotheby's Realty, where she leads a full-service residential brokerage serving South Central Pennsylvania. She has over 25 years of experience in real estate and has sold more than $1 billion in real estate, in residential real estate. Anne started her career in Florida before returning to Pennsylvania, where she co-owned an independent brokerage and later founded her own firm in 2014. Instead of scaling by stepping away from clients, she built a team and systems that kept her involved in the business. Anne Lusk, welcome.

Nice to be here.

Thank you so much for coming on. It's been great to get to know you a little bit, and I'm sure that you have a lot of gems that you can teach the audience and they'll get a lot of benefit for it. What do you think pulled you into real estate initially?

Well, I can tell you what pulled me in. I was— I had a different company, uh, wholesaling high-end cars, and I love cars. And one of my clients wanted to buy a house and wanted me to help them find one. And I said, I'm not a real estate agent. And at the end of that experience, the person said, you were born to be a real estate agent. So I thought I would try it, and I didn't want to be a real estate agent because I know the commitment that it would take. It's a 24/7, 365, day-a-year commitment because you are helping people transition, and there's always some sort of drama or crisis. Because people are transitioning. If you have 10 great reasons why people buy a home, 8 of them are pretty bad. Like someone died, they lost their job, they're getting a divorce, the husband's with the neighbor. Like there's so many reasons, and you have to understand the trauma people are experiencing while they're going through a real estate transaction. It is quite difficult to imagine what they're thinking and feeling. And for some reason, I enjoy helping everybody.

That's amazing. You're basically helping people at the most scary transition, like the biggest purchase that anybody will ever make, I think for most people, is their house.

And they feel so vulnerable. Like, yeah, think of this: the real estate agent knows their personal financial details. The real estate agent knows a lot about their family, their kids, husband or wife. So it's a very sensitive but such an important privilege to serve people going through this.

Makes— yeah, it's amazing. It's like a— yeah. Why did you come— why did you go to Florida, start in Florida, and then come to Pennsylvania?

Well, you know, my first fiancé drug me to Florida, and that's where I, you know, one of my clients in the car business, uh, wanted a house, and then I decided to move back to Pennsylvania, and I moved to California, then I moved back to Pennsylvania. And I knew that if it's to be, it's up to me. I could get a job in many different fields. I was a TV anchor person, I've done corporate sales, and so I have a, a very diverse background and skill set. But I knew real estate was not going to limit me. I was only going to limit me. When I work in corporate America, again, I'm 61 years old, and it was a different world for women trying to, you know, there was no equal pay. And real estate was equal pay because if you achieved it, you got the paycheck. It wasn't based on gender, sex, or anything else. It was based on what you accomplished, what were your results. And I felt like if I could control me, I could control my success.

Wow. So it's the only thing you could have done to kind of compete with, I guess, traditional pay at that time.

Correct.

And it's actually kind of funny because now I would just not assume, but I've seen most real estate agents are actually women.

Well, because we can't— we have a different way. Men are from Mars and women are from Venus. And so when we women, like, we think of, oh, how's the— how is the wife going to feel in the kitchen? And how are the kids going to like their rooms? And what does the yard look like? Oh, they have 3 dogs. That yard's perfect. It's off a busy road. It's fenced. We look at the transaction, I think, differently.

There's more attention to detail and kind of like a caring perspective.

Correct. Empathy.

Yeah.

Empathy and being able to feel that heart of the home. And it's so rewarding when you have someone walk in and you can see their face light up and you know that that's their house. That's, that's an extraordinary feeling. And sometimes in real estate, like, people say, oh, do you do it for the money? You know what, some deals you don't make any money because you've shown them 100 homes. But you still don't give up and you complete the task.

Yeah.

And if you're in real estate to, quote, it's about the money, you will fail. Because if you concentrate on the money, you're not concentrating on the client and the service. And with great service, the money will come.

I think Jeff Bezos said something pretty similar, or maybe not him, but it's don't focus on the competition, focus on your customers. And like, don't focus on the profits, focus on giving the best experience you can to the people that you're working with.

Yes. And being honest, like, no one's perfect. Let me just explain that. Crap will happen in a transaction that you're like, oh my gosh. And stuff happens every day. Like, I was wheeling to a showing the other night and there was an accident and there was— and I hate being late. You have to understand that. I dislike being late. And I left early because I like to get there, prepare, read the seller's disclosure, highlight it. Look at how many times the house was on the market, what did it sell for, what sold in the neighborhood. Like, I like to know, I like to really prepare for each and every showing. And I was going to be late. Well, that's going to make me late for everything else. That drives me nuts because I care about what I do. And a lot of people in this world don't care about what they do. They've lost that. Like, think about yourself. When's the last time you went somewhere and said, wow, I got great service? Yeah, because when you do, it's memorable. And you want, no matter what you choose to do in life, to be memorable in a good way, not a bad way.

Of course.

And things will happen that you can't control, like me being late, because there was—

of course, would you say that's something you were taught as a child or something you learned?

Um, my dad was an extremely hard worker and had multiple— had his own company, had jobs, and he said that the only thing you have that no one can take away from you is your character, your work ethic, and your integrity. And there's so many people that want to be great but aren't willing to put in the work or the dedication or the time or the attention to excellence. And I am harder on me than anyone else could be.

That's, uh, I think a lot of top performers can say that as well. Uh, would you say it's a trait that they share? Like every single, everybody?

I would say they do. I mean, people that, uh, you know, look for excellence, that's just who they are no matter what they do. Yeah.

It's, it's, it's not something that you can teach. It's like you're born with it.

Correct.

Why did you get into sales? Because that wasn't— I'm guessing most women back then— I don't know when I say that because like that's so long ago. But back then most women weren't thinking, oh, I'm going to graduate from college or I'm going to become a salesperson in a car dealership or, you know, sell residential real estate.

I would say I was working as a TV anchor person. And I achieved my goal by getting on like national TV pretty quickly, um, for a segment of Good Morning America from the Custer battlefield. So I felt like goal checked, but I didn't feel great about what I was doing. So I came home and I had worked as a summer worker for Armstrong World Industries, the largest manufacturer of resilient flooring in the world. And my mom worked there and she said, they have a sales opening, you gotta do it. And I wasn't really that excited about it, but I was more excited about that than being a TV anchor person.

And even when seeing so much success, was there a part of you that said, I wanna, you know, I'm doing good here, I'm, you know, I'm young, I'm already successful, I wanna pursue this more just because, you know, it's already proven, or you don't— you're not afraid to just—

didn't— I just didn't like the thing with being a TV anchor person that bothered me personally was you have such a short time to present this story. I realized the power of it. A 30-second news clip can ruin someone's life and reputation. And think about this in life. You're 15, right? Correct?

Correct. Yeah.

How many times did you believe one thing and then you found out later it's totally something else? That someone was sort of throwing someone down the, you know, the chute, and it actually— they didn't deserve it.

Yeah.

And so I didn't, I didn't think I could live with that. Um, and I just didn't love it. I thought I'd love it. I worked really hard. I filled out 455 resumes and cover letters to get a job on air out of Penn State. But, you know, I just didn't love it. And my mom made me get a job because, you know, parents, they want you to work. And I'm, I'm not a lazy person. And I was fortunate to get a sales job with Armstrong World Industries, and I was the only woman out of 2,000 vendors. But what gave me the advantage was I had worked at a summer— as a summer worker, so I understood how the floors were made. And I love color, fashion, so I wanted my clients to succeed. So we came into the design center and put together some, you know, I wanted them to put together their modular homes, their mobile homes, their RVs, their yachts that look fashionable and beautiful. So they succeeded. And I realized, and I was quite successful at that, but, you know, stupid fiancé number one. Came along and he was a car wholesaler. And I learned and I made a lot more money doing that. And I was good at it because, again, high attention to detail, transparency, and telling the truth no matter what you do always pays off.

Yeah.

You have 4 tires and 3 match and one doesn't. Just tell somebody. People can deal with knowing the truth so much better than a lie.

It's true. And if you get caught, which you usually do in a lie—

um, there's secrets in time, my friend. Just remember that when you're dating, like, the 3 girls. No secrets in time. Yeah, they will all find out and they will come after you.

What was your experience in, uh, 2008?

Oh, it was scary. Um, But I never gave up. And in 2008 was really a heavy year for so many reasons. One, I had moved from an office I owned that was small and very inexpensive to operate to another office I owned that I rented to another real estate company that was not cheap to operate. And moved over and took a big risk and redid it. And then, you know, there was sort of a big crash going on. And then the other thing that happened is I was, uh, with Prudential Real Estate. I had a franchise and they sold a franchise to the largest company in my area. So that was gut-wrenching. You know, the day my $22,000 signs were put on my building, I found out that, um, my largest competitor that was a Coldwell Banker, uh, was becoming Prudential. And I was the only one in my office that sold a house in 6 months. So I was hustling hard. I would sell anything. I don't care if it was crack house, mobile home, um, every deal mattered. And what I would say is I hear this a lot. Like, I generate a lot of leads for my office. And besides having an office, because I need to be in charge, I have many agents that their own independent contractor, and I will send them a lead and they'll be like, oh, I don't do that. I won't do that. And I've never been like that. Give me a $9,000 trailer lead, I will take it and run with it. Give me a $4 million lead, I'll run with it. Give me a complicated, uh, multi-unit property, I will deal with it. Like, I don't get— I don't turn business down. Because everybody needs help, and a lot of people do. I mean, I'm known as a high-end agent. I sell the most beautiful homes in my area, and I'm so blessed, but I've never forgotten where I've come from. When I started back here, my average sales price was $54,900.

Wow.

And door knocking, the whole ball of wax. Like, some of my clients, it took 3 years to get their credit to where I could sell them their first house for like $55,000. $24,000. Wow.

And you still stuck with them?

And I did, because I was grateful for the opportunity. It was a privilege to serve. I am so honored when somebody refers me or comes back to me. That's, that's a blessing. And again, I'm just very grateful for all the opportunities that, you know, I've been afforded. Like, I think, wow, this person chose me to serve them.

Wow, it's more of a mission. Do you think you would still do it if the pay was half?

Some days it is half with this.

They cut everything somewhere.

Yes, I would, because I love serving people, and people are going through a lot. Like, again, out of 10 reasons to sell, like, 8 aren't so hot. They're really not. And I would still do that because I feel like that's my mission to serve. Like, everyone has a mission. And I believe what you put out in the universe, you get back.

Yeah.

And I never look at somebody like, oh my gosh, like, I'm not going to earn enough money. If I felt like that, I shouldn't do what I'm doing.

You wouldn't be at the same place as well, because I'm sure you've had many stories where people have come to you and then they've bought like a $5,000, $50,000 house, and then the next time they've bought like $400,000 or $800,000.

And you don't know who they know.

Exactly.

You know, you just don't. And you don't know who their family is. And who they know. And there's nothing wrong with being nice to everybody. Yeah, it really isn't, because you don't understand where people have been. And there's people I know that came on really, really tough times and pretty much lost it all, but they came back bigger and better than ever. But they remembered the person, the people that treated them with dignity and still treated them like they mattered. Wow. Wow.

What does a normal week look like for you?

7 days a week. Um, I get up early every day and I work late every night. My I, I have two offices. I have one in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and I have one in State College, Pennsylvania. I'm a Penn State graduate, and there's days I'm up at 5 AM in my car driving up there to show homes, meet with people, list homes, turn around, and it's 2 hours and 5 minutes away, and come back and work 10 hours here. And Again, I feel it's a privilege to have the opportunity to serve others.

Makes a lot of sense. Would you say that you put that kind of original ethics of we're going to help everybody into your brokerage that you think other brokerages haven't, like, put into them?

Or I guess I would say I'm not going to ever talk badly about another brokerage. We're all different. Of course, I would say that, that would you say differentiates you? I would say it differentiates me and the lower end deals take real skill. You know, someone popping a million dollar house, let me tell you this, they're very smart, they're very savvy, not their first rodeo. And no matter what advice I give them, they're going to do what they want to do anyhow. Yeah. First-time home buyer has no— they're scared to death. This is everything to them, and they really need that skill set that gets them to the finish line. Wow.

Who's the most impressive person you've ever met?

Oh my gosh, I have met quite a few. And some of them I have NDAs with, so I cannot share. But I really admire the person that came from nothing and built something amazing, and that they're still kind and considerate, and they don't brag about their wealth. And their success. I love it. I would say I really admire, um, a gentleman named James Franklin. He's the coach of the Penn State football team that's now at the, the coach of Virginia Tech. I admire that man. He works probably 20 hours a day, and he would mentor these kids with his whole heart and soul. And the Penn State program was pretty much in shambles. You're probably too young to know the whole story, but this man rebuilt it and it wasn't easy. And I really admire him for that. And I admire that he's just a really great human. And I see how he's changed people's lives. And given them opportunities. Wow. And I'm honored because I'm showing his house tomorrow.

So I guess two positives.

Yes, I am showing his house. I have a buyer and I hope they buy it. I would be— it would be like this great, like this person I admire. And for me to bring them a great buyer for their house, that would really be something that I'd value my whole life.

Wow, it's amazing. Have you said— would you say you learned things from selling and buying houses just from the conversations you've had?

Oh my gosh, yes.

What's the one piece of advice that you've learned from your buyers and sellers that you've carried with you? The Hmm.

I would say learn to be comfortable taking risks. That's what I've learned from some of my buyers. Some of them, I thought they were going way out on a limb, making a pretty daring investment. And I learned that, wow, they knew what they were doing. I'm sitting there going, hold on back, I'm not sure. Like, are you sure? And they're like, yep. And I learned a bit of confidence that when you listen to your gut and you know, you know something, you should follow it. I would say that's a really impressive thing I've met. And I've met so many interesting people with all different careers. all different walks of life, different faiths, grew up in different countries. And I love every bit of it because think about, we only have a perspective of what we were grown up with, what we were taught. And it's fascinating to meet people that have literally, um, different you know, cultures and what their favorite foods are and religions and how they dress. I love it.

I think that's probably one of the most— one of the reasons that people go into real estate is that you get to meet so many different types of people. Would you say you learned more from the high net worth individuals that you've worked with or from just the average day?

You know what? I learned, uh, things from people from all walks of life. Uh, some days, you know, we all get to the point where we're not feeling very grateful, let's be honest. And then you meet somebody with very little that has so much joy in their heart and maybe doesn't have a lot to work with, but their attitude is infectious. And the way they look at things in life really teaches you something.

Kind of reframes it.

It does. Refocuses what your priorities are.

What is one thing you wish you were told when you're 18?

Oh my gosh, believe in yourself.

If you could go back and tell yourself one thing, would it be that?

I would be like, uh, dream it and do it. Conceive it, believe it, achieve it. You know, your mind is so important that you train it. Like, what you think about, you bring about. If you don't believe that you can, why should anybody else believe you can? Like, I walk into every house, and some of the homes I walk into are really different. Like really different. And I walk in there and I always see the possibilities that someone's going to buy it. I don't ever walk into us and say, oh, who's going to buy this? Because if I did, I wouldn't have the confidence to, to sell it.

Would you say that's something you learned, or—

I did. I did learn. I did learn, because when you're new in the business, you have a lot of fear. And, and this business takes a lot of time and preparation and hard work. It does. You don't do the work, you're not going to last long. It's like if you want to be thin, you can't sit there and eat 3 pumpkin pies and a gallon of ice cream and complain that you have a face full of pimples and you're 30 pounds overweight. Like, you've got to do the work. I mean, I spent a lot of time today doing a CMA on a house that is beautiful, but it is hard to price because a lot of the homes that sold had a finished basement. This one doesn't have a finished basement. It's not that old, but it's— well, it has the best floor plan. I'm going to tell you, the floor plan and the choices are impeccable. And then, you know, every realtor in town wants this listing. And so, you know, some are giving numbers like are low, some are giving numbers that are high. The seller's all confused. What's my house worth? And I spent a lot of time because I care that the person has a good result. And I can't listen to the noise of the other agents saying I'm wrong, I'm this, I'm that. Um, I'm not going to go there negatively. I'm going to put my best foot forward. And it's hard because it's real.

Wow, it's a lot of competition, you would say.

Lots of, lots of competition.

Of course. What's the—

and I would say why I'm leading is I'm willing to work harder than anybody else I know.

Would you say— because I talked to other real estate agents and investors and they said that their mindset changed after having children.

I have kids. I have two children. They're older now. They both have the real estate license. One is excited about it. One is absolutely not excited about it. Yeah.

Um, would you say your mindset changed after having children?

Um, no, I still worked like a maniac. I had to become a better multitasker, especially when I had to take kids to two different schools, pick them up at two different schools, and still produce, you know, a lot of production and run a company.

Wow, a lot of work.

Lots of work. And I had a ton of rentals too. There was a year I drove two kids to two different schools. I had probably 11+ rentals. I had a house, I had a dog, I had— at that time I had a husband. He wasn't much help, let's be honest. And then still achieved at the highest level. And I don't know how I did it, actually. I look back and then I'm thinking, well, that's why I only sleep like 3.5 hours a night, because that's what I was used to. And you, you have to plan your day. Busy people get stuff done because it's a— they make priorities. What's your priority?

What's mine? Yes, my priority. I want to hit $20,000 a month, and I want to interview Grant Cardone by the end of this year.

Well, you probably can.

I 100% can.

Yes, you have your, your roadmap and, and you go from there.

Yeah. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

Um, to read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Heal Your Life by Louise Hay. Those are two powerful life guides.

What did those books teach you?

If It's to Be, It's Up to Me. What you think about, you bring about. You have to have a plan, and you have to— goal setting, and goal setting and writing, and believe you can, even if no one else believes you can. You, you know, I remember my younger son said, what's your goal? And I said, to sell $100 million in real estate in a year. And everyone around me was like, are you freaking kidding me? You live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. You are not in South Beach. You are not New York. You, you're not a big city. You are in cow country, sister. And I believed I could. And you know what? That year I sold $120 million or more in a cow pasture. Because I believed I could. And I broke it down and I said, what do I need to do? And I just believed I could. And it was exhausting. It was so tired. I, I didn't take a vacation, obviously. I didn't take a day off. But that was my goal, and come hell or high water, I was going to get there. I was, I was selling anything from a trailer to a house that was a total disaster to a farm to hunting grounds. You know what it's like, like touring hunting ground where there's snakes and bears? It's not really my idea of fun, but it was what my client wanted. So instead of being scared, I said, well, I'm going to learn all about hunting ground. I'm going to learn all about this. I'm going to learn about timbering. I'm going to learn about timber value. I'm going to learn about timber surveys. I'm going to learn about topography and what makes a good, you know, what's a feed plot on a piece of ground for hunting or deer wallow. Like, I would educate myself. Multi-units. I do a little commercial for friends because I just don't feel as excited about that. I'm excited when I find something personal. It's not personal. Yeah.

What's the worst piece of advice you've ever received?

To give up. That real estate's too hard. You want it, you won't make any money.

And who was mainly saying things like this? People around you, or—

yes, people around school, or people around me. Actually, my mother thought I should get psychological counseling because I want to be a realtor, and she said, oh my God, you just won't make it. There's so many realtors and it's really hard. And like, I You're starting too late in life to achieve it. Like, 30 years old is when I started again. I started in my 20s, took a break, and started again at 30. Oh, you're too old for this. It's, it's just too much work. You're a woman, not a man. Like, I heard so many things of why I wouldn't achieve, and I'm so glad I didn't listen because I found something I'm really good at. The other thing I would say that I do is not every deal works out. You can work your butt off and at the 11th hour it can fall apart. You know, I have had a client die the day before settlement. Like, what am I going to do about that? I worked hard. It's not going to happen. I just, I'm very good at letting stuff go. Or I have people that I put their house on the market. I had this house sold. The guy lost his job, so we no longer had a reload package, so it wasn't moving. And I worked really hard. I staged it. I did all everything I could. I didn't sit there and cry about it and say, oh, I spent all this money on staging. I did this, this, that. I let it go. Next, something else will come along that's good.

Well, what an amazing story. And thank you so much for coming on. It's been great to get to know you. And I mean, your work ethic is amazing. And coming from a time like yours and fighting all of this, I guess, adversity, adversity, and so many hills that you had to climb to get where you are. It's just been an honor being in your presence.

Thank you so much for coming. Yeah.