Episode 658: How I Built a 500K+ Real Estate Community

Summary

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Episode Summary: Building a 500K+ Real Estate Community

Podcast: Your Daily Real Estate Podcast with Tristan Ahumada
Episode: #658 — How I Built a 500K+ Real Estate Community
Date: September 18, 2025
Host: Tristan Ahumada
Duration: ~8:50 min

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Episode Overview

In this first installment of a three-part series, Tristan Ahumada shares the foundational principles he used to grow the famed Lab Coat Agents community to over 500,000 real estate professionals. The episode breaks down actionable steps for agents, brokers, and team leaders who want to build their own vibrant, sustainable clubs, groups, or meetups—whether in real estate or any other passion area. Using his personal journey and practical examples, Tristan highlights how to start a community from scratch, emphasizing authenticity, clarity of purpose, and basic community-building mechanics.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Picking a Passionate, Sustainable Subject

(01:00–03:34)

• Tristan underscores the importance of choosing a topic you can “show up for all year,” emphasizing that it doesn’t always have to be real estate-related—pick something deeply engaging to you.
• Notable Example: Tristan admits he could easily have built a club around his love of journaling:

  “My feeds in social are all full of journals, writing pens… I could totally do that. What about you? What are you holding back on?” (02:01)

• Guiding Questions:
  • Is this the kind of topic where “you’ll watch the day go by” just talking about it?
  • Do you know enough to solve other people’s problems related to it?
• Idea Nuggets:
  • Clubs can span everything from “new to Malibu clubs” that help families settle in, or groups on area-specific activities like “Free Things To Do in Tahoe.”
  • The subject should be something you’re “amazing at”—forget about pleasing everyone else at the start.

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2. Naming, Promising, and Setting Rules for Your Group

(03:35–05:45)

• Naming Formula:
  • Include the city or area and core topic (“Living North Phoenix,” “Lab Coat Agents”).
  • Don’t get stuck on calling it a “club”; “community” is equally valid.
• Promise Lines:
  • Make explicit what people get (“Simple weekly ideas and meetups,” “So people who love cats can love on cats more”).
• Rules Recommendations:
  • “Be kind. No spam. Privacy first. Local only. Keep it useful.” (05:28)

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3. Picking a Sustainable Format

(05:45–07:18)

• Choose a format you can maintain—think long-term sustainability.

  “Are you the type of person that loves to meet up in person? I’m not… I never want to leave. I want to stay here forever.” (05:59)

• Formats include:
  • Online: Facebook groups, newsletters.
  • Offline: In-person meetups.
  • Hybrid: Facebook group plus small local events.
• Set clear expectations for how often the group connects and how people interact.

  “You gotta lay that groundwork… they need to know what to expect.” (06:28)

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4. Minimum Viable Club Kit (“MVP Kit”)

(07:18–08:46)

• Build the essentials in one sitting:
  • Set up a Facebook Group: Add a cover photo, write the “about” section, and establish clear rules.
  • Email List: Create a landing page or form for email collection.

    “We have a list of over 300,000 real estate agents… now I’m starting a whole new one for the consumer.” (08:02)

  • Pinned Post and Start-Here Guide: Orient new members with core info.
  • Calendar: Share a recurring events calendar (Google Calendar link works).
  • Consistent Branding: Use Canva templates to keep a unified visual identity.
  • Iterate Regularly: Update welcome posts, rules, and resources as the group grows.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Choosing a Subject:

  “When you choose to talk about something, is it something that you know well enough to solve other people’s problems…? Because chances are I spent a lot of money figuring that out.”
  (02:30 — Tristan Ahumada)

• On Building for Passion, Not Obligation:

  “Pick something you can show up for without somebody having to force you.”
  (03:33 — Tristan Ahumada)

• On Structure and Rules:

  “For me it’s pretty easy: be kind, no spam, privacy first, local only, keep it useful.”
  (05:28 — Tristan Ahumada)

• On Format Selection:

  “Pick the format you can keep. Remember—long term. Are you the type of person that loves to meet up in person? I’m not… I want to stay here forever.”
  (06:00 — Tristan Ahumada)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00–01:00 — Intro to the series, premise of community-building
• 01:00–03:34 — How to choose the right topic/passion for your group
• 03:35–05:45 — Naming, promise statements, and creating useful group rules
• 05:45–07:18 — Picking a format that matches your personal style
• 07:18–08:46 — The “minimum viable club kit”: Facebook group, email capture, posts, templates, welcome flow
• 08:46–End — Reminder to reach out for templates, preview of next episodes

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Final Thoughts & Next Steps

• This episode is Part 1: it covers the first four crucial steps to launching your own real estate (or passion-driven) community.
• Tristan emphasizes that real, lasting communities are fueled by authentic interest and reliable systems—not on fleeting trends.
• Listeners are invited to message Tristan on Instagram for the four-page Google Doc with the full blueprint and promised templates.

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Transcript

[A]

This one is a three part series. It's all on creating a group, your own group, a club, a meetup, anything that involves people buying in to how you're showing up to create a community and attract it that way. Most of you know I built Lab Coat Agents. Over the last 11 years, we've got over 500,000 real estate agents in their Facebook group, newsletter, socials and everything. And I've built other companies on top of that. The power of bringing people together off of one idea, something you're amazing at is still there. I mean, it's all about attraction, it's all about communities. Right? It's built into who we are. So let's talk about this. I'm Tristan. This is your daily real estate. This is a three part podcast show.

[B]

Right.

[A]

All of them are about five to ten minutes. Here we go. And by the way, if you do need this, I'm going to be reading off of a nice Google Doc I've got. It is four pages long. If you need this, message me on Instagram because that's where I'll be able to see it and I'll send this over to you. That way, number one, choose one subject you can show up for all year. Probably this is the hardest one, which is we want it to always be about real estate. But I think that's the biggest mistake. It doesn't have to be. It could be about Dungeons and Dragons. Yeah. It could be about donuts, it could be about baking, cooking. It could be about anything you want it to be. I just happened to create one on real estate. But let me tell you, if you're watching on YouTube, I'm holding up a journal I absolutely love, adore. I mean, this is all, this is all I think about journals outside of real estate. My feeds in social are all full of journals, writing pens, it's crazy. So, you know, I could totally do that. What about you? What are you holding back on? Because when you choose, right, I've got some ideas here for you. But when you choose to talk about something, is it something that you're so passionate about, you'll watch just the day go by, that's how you have to think. And when you're talking about it, is it something that you know well enough to solve other people's problems that they may have when they're looking to do that? So for instance, if I'm going at journaling, well, I can tell you the different types of journals I have that may solve your problem. People listening in, wondering. I can tell you what Journals to get. I can tell you what leather coverage to get. I can tell you what pens to use, what pencils to use. Why? Because chances are I spent a lot of money figuring that out. Same thing with you though. Same thing with whatever you are great at. So when you're choosing this one subject that you can show up for all year, it's got to be really great for you. Forget about everyone else here for a second. It's something you are amazing at. Here's good one topic ideas new to Malibu Club, right? Help families settle in. Easy. That also tells them about my area. Malibu. Whatever area you want. The downsizing club, right? Sizing tips and services. This is more real estate related.

[B]

Right?

[A]

But think about this. When weekend in. Pick the city Weekend in Lake Tahoe Club. Free things to do or reverse that. Free things to do in Tahoe. That's the group. That's the community, right? Or pet friendly. Long beach trails, vets, fences, yards. I put some other ideas on here. You get the idea, right? Pick something you can show up for without somebody having to force you. Number two. Name. Promise and rules. Name formula. Put the city in there. Put the club. My friend Blair Ballin out of Phoenix, he has a group called Living North Phoenix right now. You don't have to put the club. Even though in the notes I say name Formula City theme club. You don't have to have the club, you don't have to have that. But if you do want to focus in an area, right? And you write down the area inside of the community name. For us it was lab coat agents. Agents meaning who we're targeting. Lab coats meaning how we're going to function. What. What is this about, right? Same thing with a brilliant tribe. Same idea, right? So start thinking about those things in that way. So when you're thinking about it that way, start thinking. Name. What is it promising? How can I hook people with it?

[B]

Right?

[A]

Here's what I've got. Promise lines. Simple weekly ideas and meetups. So we can. Or so who.

[B]

Who?

[A]

People that love cats can love on cats. More simple weekly ideas and meetups. So who? People who love journals can write better, right? Rules. Whatever. Whatever you want the rules to be. For me it's pretty easy. Be kind. No spam. Privacy first local only keep it useful. If I'm looking for the real estate community here type of meetup.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Number three. Two more to go today and then we're going to go to the next one tomorrow. Number three. Pick the format you can keep. Remember long term. Remember that idea of Doing something that you absolutely love so that you can show up more for yourself. Here it is.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Pick the format you can keep because now it translates to, well, where do you typically gravitate to? Are you the type of person that loves to meet up in person? I'm not. You have to like drag me out of my cave. I hate it. I never want to leave. I want to stay here forever.

[B]

Right.

[A]

If that's you, then it's probably going to be online. That's mine. Online. Facebook group or a newsletter. You can build a newsletter and it could be a community, right? Or it could be a hybrid if you're like, yeah, you know, I kind of like both. Great. Facebook group, small person meetup. How often, like we've done events for lab coats and they were massive and. And it started off just a group, right now. How often are you going to do this? How often do you meet up? How often do you show up? You got to lay that groundwork for you and the people that are following you and are part of this community that you're building for meeting up because they need to know what to expect and they need to know when they're going to connect with you. Number four, build the minimum viable club kit in one sitting. You don't have to. You don't have to use the word club. It could be community. I just happen to use club for this one. But what's the mvp?

[B]

Right?

[A]

Minimal viable product. Minimal viable club kit. I put Facebook group set cover photo, about section and rules. Easy. And if you're going to go the other route where you actually have a community, you can build out a website on WordPress. Easy. I would suggest probably Facebook groups. The easiest. Facebook is the third. The third most visited website in the world. Still way up there. Way up there.

[B]

Right?

[A]

So easy to do. Next, one simple landing page or form for email capture. Definitely need that. You definitely need email to make sure that people are connecting with you in the future and currently on whatever you have to do.

[B]

Look what we do.

[A]

We've. We have a list of over 300,000 real estate agents. That's enough. And now I'm starting a whole new one for the consumer.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Big news in real estate. You're watching me do those videos. Pinned welcome post and start here. Guide or an introductory email that goes out to people joining or an introductory text and a Google Calendar. Calendar Calendar link with recurring monthly meetups, whether they're in person or online. We have that one for our group coaching. So people know when to show up, what to expect, Right? And then a Canva template for posts. This way, they look similar. They have that feel. People are like, oh, yeah, that belongs to your brand.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Whatever that is. Pin. And then pin this welcome post template. I have a template here for you at the top. And then what I would do is change it up, right? Because the group changes as you're growing, the community changes. So make sure to update those things, whether it's a website, whether it's a newsletter, whether it's a Facebook group. So again, if you need this, message me. This is part one of three. It's all about building your own club, group or meetup. Have an awesome day, everyone.