Mike Ferry’s Podcast the Original: Patrick Southern on Building Your Business Forward, Running a Lean High-Volume Operation, and Growing a 1,000-Unit New Development Pipeline – Tony Smith Interviews Patrick Southern

In this episode, coach Tony Smith sits down with Patrick Southern, who works the Jersey City and Hoboken market in New Jersey. Patrick has been a Mike Ferry coaching client for about 23 years, and he has never once dropped out of the program. Last year, he took 376 contracts with a small core group around him. His current goal is even bigger: 1,000 new construction units under commitment by next June. He is already at 774. In this conversation, Patrick explains how he plans his business seven years ahead. He also shares why he keeps his operation lean and how he rebuilt his energy and mindset to handle the workload.

An Overnight Success, 20 Years in the Making

Patrick jokes that he’s an overnight success, just like Mike. In reality, his early career was full of failure. He spent about 15 years grinding on the phones, calling expireds, FSBOs, and his database for hours a day and mastering the scripts. Those fundamentals are still the foundation of everything he does. When his business gets distracted by motion, he brings it back to the basics. He credits the Mike Ferry Organization for his success and says he doesn’t know where his career would be without it.

Planning Your Business Seven Years Out

Patrick doesn’t just set a number and chase it. He pictures what he wants his business to look like seven years from now. He asks which parts of the work he enjoys and which parts he doesn’t. Then he works backward to his business plan, the people around him, and the culture he wants. His reasoning is simple. You don’t want to work hard for years, only to wake up and realize you don’t want to do the job you built. Staying stimulated and excited about each day is what keeps him motivated at this stage of his career.

Why New Development Became His Next Wave

About eight to ten years ago, Patrick noticed that expireds were getting harder to come by. Sellers could now find agents online, often before their listing even expired. Working in a transient market, he worried his past clients and center of influence would dry up. New development was his answer. When he sells out a building, he becomes the expert on that building. He knows its planning, design, finishes, and finances better than almost anyone. That makes him the natural choice when owners resell, so every building he sells adds to his database.

Running Lean and Efficient

Patrick describes himself as very self-critical, and he applies the same lens to his business. He constantly asks whether a system is truly needed or just something he thinks is needed. He keeps Mike’s reminder in mind: this is a simple business, but it’s not easy. His core group is small, and he only adds permanent people when there’s an overflow of work to support them. He looks for people who don’t need to be motivated to work. They need direction and help sharpening their skills. He brings in extra support for large projects, but the core stays tight.

Repotting Yourself

Tony brings up a phrase from Mike Vance, one of Mike’s mentors: repot yourself. About five years ago, Patrick noticed his energy wasn’t what it used to be. He calls real estate an attitude business, because a high-volume agent must keep their emotions under control through bad deals, upset clients, and tough days. He started making changes, and the results compounded. Today, he says he feels sharper and stronger than he did in his 20s. He also worked on his mindset, letting go of the fear that drove his early years and once made him feel he had to handle everything himself.

Advice for Agents Facing a Changing Market

For agents a few years into the business, Patrick’s advice is to control what you can control. That means your thoughts, your attitude, the work you put in, and your skills. He doesn’t believe in convincing clients. Instead, he asks as many good questions as possible to understand their motivation. Then he lays out options with the pros and cons and lets them decide. And he reminds agents that tough markets come and go. The hard times now will make you more confident with clients later.