Mike Ferry’s Podcast the Original: Mike Ferry Interviews Matt McMillan

In this episode, Mike Ferry sits down with Matt McMillan of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. Matt has been licensed since 2004 and works mainly in Miami Beach and Miami, where condos and snowbird buyers drive much of his business. His average sales price is $1.6 million, and he did about 45 transactions last year, counting sales and rentals. He earned around $800,000 in 2025 and came close to $1 million with a flip he did with his wife. In this conversation, Matt asks Mike some questions of his own about building a team, handling listings that sit, and investing in a buyer’s market.

From Personal Trainer to Real Estate

Before real estate, Matt was a personal trainer making $25,000 to $30,000 in a good year. He had been on a pre-med path in college, but he didn’t want to spend another 10 to 12 years in school. Right after he got his license, his father-in-law met longtime Mike Ferry client Ed House on a cruise. Ed told him Matt needed to go to Mike Ferry, and Matt has followed the system for 22 years.

A Database-Driven Business

Matt’s database has about 1,200 people, and it produces 75 to 80% of his business. He fills in the rest with Just Listed and Just Sold prospecting, often inside the condo buildings he knows best. He runs as a one-man team with a full-time assistant, and his wife, who was licensed with him in 2004, handles research for his sellers and buyers. Matt admits that after 22 years he has leaned on his database and stopped adding to it the way a new agent would. Mike’s answer comes from his first broker, Pat McVay: prospect every day and preview property every day.

Should a Top Agent Build a Team?

Matt has thought about adding a buyer’s agent or showing agent. Mike’s view is that the highest return on Matt’s time is taking a listing, pricing it fairly, getting it sold, and getting referrals from that seller. Too often, Mike says, a great agent builds a team, pays out 40 to 50%, and loses the personal production where their pretax net profit lives. Teams can work when the team leader keeps listing and every agent prospects daily. But a high-producing solo agent will usually make more profit than a team doing more deals.

Overpriced Listings and Commission Cutters

Miami Beach has about 16 to 17 months of inventory right now, and many listings are sitting. Mike says the expiration rate is higher than it has been in years and will likely stay that way for the next six months to a year. Even so, you need inventory to get calls from buyers. Since the commission changes in August 2024, Matt sees more agents cutting their fees to win listings. His approach is to say “next” and keep prospecting. As he tells his wife, he’ll get that listing when it expires. Mike adds that agents today can see the commission online in minutes, and many won’t show a listing that doesn’t pay enough.

Urgency and Patience

Asked what he would tell a room of agents who want his income, Matt says to practice urgency and patience at the same time. Urgency means getting the appointment today and getting the counteroffer signed today, because time kills deals. Patience means accepting that some markets and some deals are out of your control and keeping a long view. Matt believes a new agent who follows the system with urgency can become a millionaire in 5 to 7 years. Mike adds that new licensees should still expect 3 to 5 years to get established.

Investing in a Buyer’s Market

Matt’s goal for the next 3 to 5 years is financial independence, with rental income covering his family’s living expenses. He paid off his first property last year. He asks Mike what he looked for as an investor when other buyers were afraid to buy. Mike looked for two things: a property he could resell in 12 to 18 months with minimal rehab, or a property that could produce reasonable cash flow. He would put 25 to 30% down, because the more you put down, the higher the cash flow. Mike also asks his clients how quickly they can pay their properties off. As he puts it, you’re better off owning five homes free and clear than ten homes with 80% mortgages.