Tom Hopkins: The Man Who Taught a Million Agents How to Close | The Historical | Ep. 22
Release Date: 03/24/2026
Team of the Week: Tim Allen Properties - The Legend of Carmel
Ambitious Agents
Tim Allen was born in Pebble Beach, California and has been a full-time Realtor for over forty years. His team, Tim Allen Properties with Coldwell Banker Realty, has closed over five billion dollars on the Monterey Peninsula. He was ranked the number one Coldwell Banker agent in the United States in 2021. Four lessons for agents building decades-long market dominance. Learn more at foxessellfaster.com
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Agent of the Week: Leonard Stone - Dollar Forty-Nine Million from Burlingame
Ambitious Agents
Len Stone is the founder of the Len Stone Real Estate Group, KW Advisors in Burlingame, California. Ranked 995th by the RealTrends 2025 report, he closed forty-nine point two one million dollars across thirty-five sides. His team is the number one selling team in San Mateo County and fronts renovation costs up to two hundred thousand dollars for sellers. Three lessons for agents building a high-volume team. Learn more at foxessellfaster.com
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The Sweathogs: How Floyd Wickman Transformed a Generation of Agents
Ambitious Agents
Floyd Wickman started his real estate career in 1966 with only a ninth grade education and three closings in year one. He built the Sweathogs training program, was named one of the twenty-five most influential people in real estate by the National Association of REALTORS, and was inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame. This episode covers his full story and five lessons every agent can apply. Learn more at foxessellfaster.com
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Team of the Week: The Oppenheim Group - Building a Real Estate Empire
Ambitious Agents
The Oppenheim Group, founded by Jason Oppenheim in Los Angeles, has closed over five billion dollars in personal sales. Jason, a former attorney who represented the Enron CEO at the Supreme Court level, founded the brokerage within three years of entering real estate. The group is featured on the Netflix series Selling Sunset. This episode covers the origin story, the boutique luxury model, the Netflix effect, and four lessons. Learn more at foxessellfaster.com
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Agent of the Week: Lisa Wilkinson - Dollar Forty-Nine Million in Palm Beach
Ambitious Agents
Lisa Wilkinson is the Executive Director of Luxury Sales at Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Ranked 996th among all individual agents in the United States by the RealTrends 2025 report, she closed forty-nine point two million dollars in volume across twenty-one transaction sides. Before entering luxury residential real estate, Lisa was a small business owner and commercial real estate developer. This episode covers her path to the top of one of the most competitive luxury markets in the country, plus actionable takeaways every agent can apply. Learn more at...
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The Historical: Mike Ferry — The Man Who Taught a Million Agents How to Close
Ambitious Agents
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Team of the Week — Mark Spain Real Estate: The Guaranteed Offer Machine That Sells Six Billion Dollars in Homes
Ambitious Agents
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Agent of the Week — Greg Browman: Seven Deals, Forty-Nine Million Dollars, and What Luxury Really Means
Ambitious Agents
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The Historical — Barbara Corcoran: The Thousand-Dollar Bet That Built an Empire
Ambitious Agents
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The Historical - Gary Keller: The Man Who Built the Largest Real Estate Company on Earth
Ambitious Agents
He graduated from Baylor University in nineteen seventy-nine, moved to Austin, and sold five houses his first month. Within five years he was VP of expansion for the largest real estate firm in Austin. Then he walked away and started his own company. Today that company - Keller Williams Realty - has more than one hundred eighty thousand agents worldwide and is the largest real estate franchise on Earth by agent count. This is the full story of how Gary Keller did it, why the profit sharing model changed everything, and five lessons every agent and team leader can take from his career. Learn...
info_outlinen 1968, a 19-year-old kid with no car, no suit, and his last $100 walked into a real estate office wearing a purple band uniform. He failed the license exam three times. His first six months in the business, he earned an average of $42 a month.
Six years later, Tom Hopkins had closed 1,553 real estate transactions - including 365 homes in a single year, one every single day. He became a millionaire at 27. Then he walked away from selling to do something even bigger: teach.
Over the next five decades, Tom Hopkins trained more than 5 million salespeople on 5 continents. His book How to Master the Art of Selling is still the most widely read sales book in the real estate industry.
In this episode:
- The Dodger Stadium steel worker origin story
- His last $100 investment that changed everything
- The "master asker" philosophy that still beats every AI tool
- How he closed 365 homes in one year without email, Zillow, or a CRM
- What agents in 2026 can still steal from his playbook
Ambitious Agent is brought to you by Dustin Fox of the Fox Homes Team — The DMV's top-rated real estate teams with 2,124+ five-star Google reviews. Buying or selling in the DC Metro area? Visit FoxesSellFaster.com