Ryan Serhant Said he had a list of all the billionaires he had ever met – all 101 of them. For the real estate mogul, building relationships with the super-rich is a “top priority” and his brokerage Serhant. is on track to do nearly $6 billion in sales this year.
Serhant, 41, went from a struggling actor who earned only about $9,000 in his first year in real estate in 2008, the week Lehman Brothers collapsed, to one of the most successful brokers in the United States. During his career, he has completed more than $15 billion worth of real estate transactions, built a brokerage firm with more than 1,100 agents in 14 states, and made his work pay off. become a Netflix series, own manhattan. He estimates net worth About $40 million. The 41-year-old continues to set records: in the first 35 days of 2025 alone, his agency servant. over $1 billion Closed sale and sale under contract.
in a TikTok was recently interviewed by The School of Hard KnocksSerhant reveals the deceptively simple networking method that propelled him from struggling actor to one of the most successful real estate agents in the world: “I use two C’s in every room I enter.”
formula? “When you compliment someone, you find some common ground.”
Relationships > Transactions
Serhant didn’t stop at that initial conversation. He said once he gets someone’s contact information, he will follow up within 10 minutes. “I sent them a quick note, a quick text. So, it was great to see you seven and a half minutes ago. Let’s do something great together,” he said.
Serhant said he left the message unread as a visual reminder and continued to engage “until they buy or I die.” He said he tries to meet five to 15 new people every day, and that his contact list is effectively “contact currency” – a network built on relationships, not just transactions.
Serhant said his $6 billion sales strategy revolves around approachability: “People hate being sold to, but they love shopping with friends,” he said. “As a salesperson, your first job is to build relationships. Not to sell products.”
This philosophy led to some of his most important deals. Earlier this year, Serhant said he sold a $308 million Palm Beach property by phoneHe attributes this entirely to “my ability to build trusting relationships between people who want to buy and people who want to sell.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever actually sold an apartment or a building,” Serhant added.
Advice to the next generation
Since the launch of Serhant. In September 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, his company had become one of the fastest-growing real estate companies in the United States. Serhant’s brokerage has a 99% agent retention rate.
When asked what message he wanted to leave to young people, Serhant shared wisdom gleaned from his billionaire clients: “Most people are in a race against time. Time is their greatest asset. The richest people are in a race against time.” With this in mind, Serhant said he would “rather regret something I’ve done than something I’ve never tried,” and advised others to similarly “take risks or lose opportunities.”
You can watch Serhant’s full interview with The School of Hard Knocks below:
@theschoolofhardknocks $6 billion this year 🤯 I interviewed New York City real estate mogul @Ryan Serhant and I asked him how he got rich! Since he has met more than 100 billionaires, I asked him to provide his best networking advice for business people. I also asked him for his sales secrets, since his company will do more than $6 billion in sales this year. Finally, I asked him for his best advice to the younger generation. #wealth#entrepreneur#financialfreedom♬ Original Sound – The School of Hard Knocks