How I Closed 650 Homes By Living in Balance (Sharing My Story on the Stay Paid Podcast)

If real estate feels like both blessing and burden, this episode is your invitation to rethink success from the ground up.

The industry tells you to hustle harder, chase more, and measure success by closings. But in this conversation on Stay Paid, Garrett shares why those metrics can become traps—and how redefining your scoreboard can completely change your business, your energy, and your life.

This episode is a deep dive into building a business that honors your values instead of draining them. From crafting better questions to aligning your work with your design, Garrett unpacks the practical steps behind his concept of “The Balanced Breakthrough.”

You’ll Learn

• Why most agents are asking the wrong questions about success

• How to build a scoreboard that reflects what actually matters

• The Rule of Eight: a simple framework for mastering lead generation

• How to identify what’s truly in alignment with your strengths

• The difference between being tired and being burnt out—and why it matters

Next Steps

1️⃣ Redefine your scoreboard:
Write down what winning looks like in faith, family, and business—not what the industry says.

2️⃣ Audit your alignment:
Do an energy audit this week. Identify the tasks that drain you vs. fuel you.

3️⃣ Don’t go at it alone:
Share this episode with an agent who’s stuck in the hustle cycle and needs a reset.

Transcript & Highlights

Garrett joins Josh and Luke to unpack why most agents chase the wrong definition of success and how the industry’s scoreboard leaves so many people exhausted, discouraged, and out of alignment. He explains how better questions lead to better strategies, why your business can only be as healthy as you are, and how to build predictable, profitable systems that fit who you’re wired to be. They discuss the PDA Formula, the Rule of Eight, the tension between fear and provision, and the power of staying faithful long enough to reap the harvest. The conversation closes with a challenge to define your true scoreboard—and to build a business that serves your life instead of consuming it..

Josh: Welcome to Stay Paid. Welcome to Stay Paid—your number one sales and marketing podcast on a mission to help you close more deals, keep more clients, and build the life of freedom you're working towards. But that can only happen if you're willing to take action today.
My name is Josh Stike, chief marketing officer here at Reminder Media, joined as always by Luke Acree, president of Reminder Media.
And returning to the show—third time. Three times. He's getting up there next to Sean, I believe.

Luke: Yeah. Next to Sean Carpenter on the Hall of Fame. Return guest, Garrett Maroon.
Garrett started in real estate with just 40 names in a database and 11 years later has closed over 650 homes, 100% by relationships.
He co-founded the 210 Collective at eXp Realty, hosts The Faithful Agent podcast, and has a new book releasing November 25th called The Balanced Breakthrough: Winning at Work Without Losing at Life.
Garrett, welcome to Stay Paid Again.

Garrett: Welcome.
Thank you guys for having me back. It's awesome to be here. Whoever has beat me—I need to come back next week.

Josh: Yeah, I think it's literally you and Sean Carpenter. And Stephen, my brother—which, obviously, he's kind of co-host now, so that's not a fair assessment.
But yeah. And shout out to you—for people who don't know Garrett, I mean, he's a top-producing agent. You're always closing a massive amount of deals every year.
And what's most impressive—I remember the first time we interviewed you, you had like 288 people in your database and had closed like 80-something deals that year.
And that is a common theme I see among top-producing agents: they have really done an incredible job nurturing a core database of relationships that feeds the majority of their business.

And I’m really interested to get into your book, because you call it The Balanced Breakthrough. And this whole idea of balance—it feels like a misnomer because, you know, I've been trying to seek balance in my life for years and I've never gotten it.
So I’m curious about your take on this.

My first real question for you is: in the book you talk about creating a scoreboard in life and business. How can agents—and even entrepreneurs—begin redefining what winning looks like for themselves? What does that scoreboard mean in your mind? And how do they start?

Creating the Scoreboard

Garrett: Thanks again, guys. Love being with y’all.
So, I think it starts with this: salespeople and business owners ask bad questions.

Here’s what I mean: I'm on a show recently, and the host asks, “If someone came to you and asked, ‘How do I sell 30 homes this year?’ What would you tell them?”

And I said, “I’d tell them that’s a terrible question.”
Because I could answer it like this: You go work 120 hours a week, spend $100k—borrowed from the bank—and you’ll find your way to 30 transactions.

That’s easy. But it’s the wrong question.

Most of us get stuck there:
“How do I sell X amount of homes?”
“How do I make X amount of money?”

Getting that answer is simple.

The scoreboard comes in when we start asking better questions. Balance comes in when we ask:
What do I actually care about?

For me, the question shifted from:
“How do I sell 50 homes a year in under 40 hours a week?”
—which is actually a pretty good question—
to this, when I created my scoreboard:

“How do I sell 50 homes a year while taking my wife on two day-dates a month and taking every seventh week off with my kids?”

That better question forced a better answer.
I realized: The only way to do that is to master working by referral.

So again—better question → better answer → better life.

For the business owner who says, “Well, I have to put food on the table,” absolutely—you do. So do I. My wife homeschools. We have five kids. Lots of expenses. Providing is non-negotiable.

The challenge isn’t “don’t work hard.” Sometimes you must hustle.

The challenge is: You’re probably not asking the best question.

What if instead of, “How do I make 100k?”
you asked, “How do I make 100k while never missing family dinner and never missing my son’s soccer game?”

That new question forces a better solution.

It forces you away from things that waste time.
It forces you toward efficiency, mastery, and alignment.

Redefining Winning

Garrett: The industry only cares about two things:

1. How much money you make

2. How many deals you do

Most brokers are non-competing. Their income depends on you producing more. That’s not evil—it’s just reality.
But because of that, the message agents hear is: “You should always be doing more.”

We get to define what winning looks like—not the industry.

Once you define that clearly, you ask better questions.
Better questions → better answers → better, more balanced life.

What Does the Dash on Your Headstone Mean?

Luke: In your book, you ask readers what they want the dash on their tombstone to mean. So I’ll pose that to you. What does your dash mean, Garrett?

Garrett: Great question.

My mom passed away in October 2022. Each year we go visit where she’s buried and look at her headstone.
Her headstone doesn’t say: French teacher. Sold X number of homes.
It says who she was.

If I were a real estate agent—and we all live like this—our daily actions suggest we think our headstone will say:

• Sold 1,000 homes

• $100 million GCI

• $5 million profit

But it won’t.

What I hope mine says is:

• Passionate follower of Jesus

• Loving husband

• Great dad

• Amazing friend

• Served people well

Not “sold 650 homes.”

We live as if production will matter eternally. It won’t.
Now—you still must provide. That’s non-negotiable.

But stop falling prey to the industry’s scoreboard.

Quick story:
There was an agent in our market—number one agent two years ago. Most homes sold. Highest GCI. He won the award.
But everyone also knew he:

• Lost money

• Got divorced

• Wasn’t talking to his son

It was publicly known.

Yet at Realtor Prom, he was on stage taking selfies because he’d won.
Then he went home to an empty house.

And we call that success.

If you ask the average agent, “Is selling a lot of homes and making a lot of money success?” they’ll say yes—until you add the caveat:
“…even if your marriage falls apart and your kids won’t speak to you?”

Then they say, “Well, no, not that.”

So actually define it.
Write the definition.
Then pursue that.

The Tension: Providing vs. Being Present

Luke: To play devil’s advocate—many agents want balance, but when they choose the balanced option, they don’t produce enough. So they feel stuck.

Garrett: Absolutely. That tension is real.

When I coach an agent, their lead gen plan is often five different strategies.
I ask: “Prove to me that all of these are necessary.”

They can’t.

Most of what agents think is “necessary” is simply inherited hustle culture.

I teach something called The Rule of Eight.

You list your lead sources:
Sphere, open houses, social media, etc.

Then you rank them based on:

1. Where your business actually comes from
2. What you enjoy
3. Your current skill level

Almost always, the most important piece (sphere) is the one they’re least excellent at.

So Rule of Eight says:
Until your most important pillar reaches an 8 out of 10 in mastery, you do NOT have permission to improve anything else.

Agents burn out because they scatter their energy.

Master one thing.
Then move on.

The Industry’s Broken Advice

Garrett: Quick story.

I hired a real estate coach early in my career.
I told her: “My goal isn’t to sell more homes. It’s to do it in less time.”

At the end of our call she said:

“Your homework is to cold call 300 people and door knock 100 doors.”

I said, “I’m not going to do that.”

She replied, “Well, you won’t succeed in this industry.”

Next week she asked if I’d done it.
I said, “No. I told you I wouldn’t.”
She said again, “You won’t succeed.”

That mindset is the problem.

The industry pushes one path—even if it’s completely misaligned with who you are.

Your job is not to be who the industry wants you to be.
Your job is to figure out who God made you to be—and build a business around that.

Energy Audits and Authenticity

Garrett: Here’s how to find your authentic business:

Do an energy audit.

For three days, every 30 minutes, write what you did.
Then mark each task:

• + gave energy

• – drained energy

• ○ neutral

That alone will reveal your lane.

If podcasting gives me energy and cold calling drains me, guess what?
I should build a business around what fuels me—not what frustrates me.

We waste so much energy wishing we were someone else.

Be the fish.
Swim.
Don’t climb trees.

The Biblical Perspective

Luke: There’s a passage that says whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord. That helped one of my agents who wasn’t motivated by money or competition.

Garrett: Colossians 3:23.
Exactly.

There’s a tension:

• Yes, the Lord must build the house.

• But the laborer must labor.

Hard work is required.
But alignment determines sustainability.

Galatians 6:9:
“Do not grow weary of doing good, for in due season you will reap if you do not give up.”

The last two years have been brutal.
Any agent still standing—well done.
You're winning.

The requirement of success is simple:
Don’t quit.

Closing Thoughts

Josh: Incredible, man. Before we wrap up, tell people where they can find you and your book.

Garrett: GarrettMaroon.com.
Instagram: @GarrettMaroon.
Book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart—everywhere.

Josh: Thanks for coming back on the show.
Links are in the show notes at StayPaidPodcast.com.
Subscribe on YouTube.
Share this episode with someone you know.

Luke: Garrett—appreciate you, brother.
So much wisdom.
And you’re so young with five kids—crazy.

Funny note: my dad is preaching this week on “Do not grow weary in doing good,” the same verse you just quoted. So maybe that’s a sign for me—and maybe for someone listening too.

Here's the action step:
Define your scoreboard.
Be intentional.
Get clear on what life you’re building and why.

Remember:
The difference between top producers and mediocre producers?
Top producers take action.

Take action on this today.