In Part 1 of The Norris Group Real Estate Podcast, host Joey Romero sits down with Sarah Ayala of Tower Agency to explore the strategies and insights first-time home buyers, sellers, and investors need to succeed. Sarah breaks down the real estate process into clear, actionable steps, sharing how clients can confidently navigate one of the most significant decisions of their lives.

Sarah Ayala is a Broker Associate and Director of Talent and Growth at Tower Agency. Since entering the real estate industry in 2015, she has specialized in helping first-time home buyers and sellers achieve their goals with confidence and care. Sarah holds a California Broker’s License—the highest credential in the state—and a Bachelor of Business Administration from California State University. She is dedicated to guiding clients through one of the most significant decisions of their lives, providing clarity, professionalism, and personalized support every step of the way.

RADIO SHOW EPISODE

In This Episode

• Joey welcomes Sarah Ayala, Broker Associate with Tower Agency.

• Sarah shares how her childhood home and family influenced her passion for real estate.

• The challenges and lessons from her first year in the industry.

• The role of kindness, confidence, and service in every transaction.

• How social media, Instagram Stories, and DMs became her main business driver.

• Tips for building authentic connections with clients online.

• Insights on working with investors and handling distressed properties.

• Why providing education, options, and transparency is key to investor relationships.

Episode

Narrator

Announcer, welcome to the Norris group real estate podcast, a show committed to bringing you insights from thought leaders shaping the real estate industry. In each episode, we'll dive into conversations with industry experts and local insiders, all aimed at helping you thrive in an ever changing real estate market continuing the legacy that Bruce Norris created, sharing valuable knowledge and empowering you on your real estate journey, whether you're a seasoned pro or a newcomer. This is your go to source for insider tips, market trends and success strategies. Here's your host, Craig Evans,

Joey Romero

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Norris group real estate podcast. I'm your host. Guest host, I guess host, Joey Romero Today's guest is a realtor here in the Inland Empire. Sarah Ayala, broker, associate and Director of Talent and growth with tower agency, starting out in 2015 she built her career on one simple but powerful Foundation, kindness, confidence and an unwavering commitment to service. She specializes in first time home buyers and sellers, and has guided countless families through one of the biggest milestones of their lives, whether it's buying, selling or investing, Sarah's mission is the same, to make your real estate dreams a reality. Sarah holds a California broker's license and a BA in Business Administration from Cal State, San Bernardino, let's welcome Sarah. Sarah, we're gonna jump right in. Let's, let's get into your backstory. Now, I've known Brent for almost 20 years now, so I try to get the scoop from him about, I said, Give me the dirt, give me the give me the juicy stuff. And he wouldn't, you know, he's like, you know, I got nothing but good things to say. So now he did. He did tell me that they that you you weren't always in real estate. So what were you doing before real estate? And how did you jump into real estate?

Sarah Ayala

Yeah, funny enough. So I went to college. I went to Cal State, San Bernardino. I got my degree in Human Resource Management, and my ultimate goal was to go into law. I wanted to be basically employment lawyer at a really, really great teacher who was a judge. And it totally sparked that, like interest in me. And so I was in the process of applying to law school when my mom, who has been a real had been a real estate agent. Then, since 2006 she's still a real estate agent. Now, she was like, I think you would be really good at this. Like, try it. Just try it. And I'm not kidding, every time I saw her, she's like, please get your real estate license. So to be completely honest, I only got my license to stop my mom from asking me so many times to get my license. But as the saying goes, Mom knows best, and I was in the process of applying to law school, got my license, and decided to, like, just jump in and try it. And that very first home that I sold, it was just a done deal. I was like, This feels like a really good career move for me. And now I'm here.

Joey Romero

She's not, she's not saying, Hey, where's the

Sarah Ayala

baby, where's the baby? Yeah, exactly No. She's never been like that. I think those talks are going to start coming soon, though, she started a little bit yeah,

Joey Romero

now I understand your childhood home had something to do with why you actually, you know, decided to go for it too. Could you tell

Sarah Ayala

us that story? Yeah, no. I come from a really strong family background, not very much. My dad is in education. Still is an education we were. My parents were living on a teacher's salary with four kids and them too. And so, as you can imagine, I don't think they ever thought that homeownership would be something they could obtain, but they did it when I was three years old, and they still live in that very home to this day. And I would say that they just instilled in me the pride of one of home ownership, but also kind of grow where your planted mentality. So they've stayed there the entire time my whole life. They still live in that home, and that was so special to me, like having a place to always come back to having that solid foundation. I know it's four walls, but it's so much more than that. And like the growth that we experienced, experienced as a family in that home, and, you know, a lot of sad things too, you just always have that one place. And I think that really created, it really created a good foundation for my career as well. So when I'm, you know, approaching sellers, buyers, whatever it might be, there's just so much emotion tied to it, especially in residential real estate. And a lot of that emotion that I feel and know comes from my childhood home. So yes, it does have a lot to do with it,

Joey Romero

alright, so take us back to when you first started. What were the first 12 months

Sarah Ayala

like for you? Horrible, absolutely awful. I am so happy. So too my parents. I'm just, I love my family so much, but my parents really supported me. So I was 22 years old at the time. They let me live there. They let me move back in. So I had moved out and I wasn't making any money. I felt like, honestly, like, kind of their loser, oldest child, who was like, coming back home, had a college degree, wasn't doing much, but they really believed in me, and so they let me live basically in their office. I set up shop in their office, in like a futon, basically. And the first I was like, I will be here for three months, and then I'm out here. Guys, yeah, it definitely didn't happen. I think I was there for like three more years. More years, but the first 12 months were extremely difficult. I have never learned more about myself, more about sales, more about money management. I had a very slow start, so the first six months was all learning, and I made the very I want to. Say, dumb decision, but I'm glad I did it. Now, I had a very stable, full time job, and decided to quit that and go full into real estate, because how hard can it be? And I didn't sell anything for the first six months. Had my first deal lived off that for the next, like, three months, then had another it was a very slow start, but I'll be honest, I'm so grateful that it was because it taught me so much about the industry, so much about basics. Yeah, I don't want to go back to that first year, but definitely happy that I did it that way, because it was helpful, but it

Joey Romero

was hard. When did you realize this wasn't just the job, like this was the career that you were going to embark on?

Sarah Ayala

Yeah, well, I did mention it. Well, the first time I gave keys, that first transaction, the first six months of my career, that was really game changing for me. But I think when I started feeling momentum was probably year three or four of like, okay, this is a career. I can do this there. Feels like there's some STAP ability here. Like, I know there's going to be deals to come. But I think, like any sales person, I mean, I'm 11 years in now, and I've had a really bad first quarter this first year. And even I questioned myself. I think anybody in sales does you know if they have a bad quarter, I even question myself, like, is this a career? But yeah, it is. I think everyone stuck with me for the foreseeable future.

Joey Romero

Well, we deal, we deal with, mostly investors, with the Norse group, and a lot of the times when I'm talking to, you know, folks that own real estate investment clubs, I said, you know, who are the most successful ones? And then they're like, well, the ones that don't quit. So true. One of the things that you emphasize is kindness, confidence and service. How does that show up in every transaction

Sarah Ayala

for you? Yeah, I think, well, one, I think any salesperson needs to have a little bit of confidence. And I just have this, like, I don't know this, I'm really happy I have it. I've had it since I was a baby, I think, but just a lot of positivity around very negative situations. Like, I have a feeling this is gonna work out, and if it doesn't work out, then it wasn't meant to be. You know, meant to be, you know, that kind of, you know, mentality on kind of everything, you know, I get a request for repair, and I'm like, You know what? I think this is still going to work out, even though the buyer's asking for 40 grand, or whatever it might be. But I think I always try to the kindness aspect is put myself and whoever my client shoes, the agent shoes. I try to really approach every transaction that way from a really just deep, rooted place of kindness and confidence too. Obviously, is huge, but yeah, that positivity, I don't know I got it in me. Everything's gonna work out.

Joey Romero

So what? What's the main driver of your business right now for

Sarah Ayala

you social media. So really social media? I am a millennial, and the first thing I did when I got my real estate license is I created an Instagram for my real estate business that I had launched in one hour since passing the test. And I made every mistake you could possibly make on social media. I was posting Pinterest like, you know, inspiration, motivational quotes, nothing about real estate. I was all over the place. And then I noticed that kind of my is my sphere connected to my social media initially. So, you know, my old co workers from previous jobs had followed my real estate page, you know, and saw that. And my first time on, my first transactions, were from ex co workers, but I don't think they would have known I was in real estate if I hadn't been consistently posting about it on social media. So I think when that sparked I was like, Okay, let me double down on this. And now 80% of my business is coming from social media, and 20% is from client referrals or past clients. So really, that's the huge driver of my business.

Joey Romero

Okay, nice. Now, do you have a favorite platform, or are you across all of them? What tell tell us about how you choose where you're at Instagram.

Sarah Ayala

So funny enough, I have more followers on Tiktok than I do Instagram, but I prioritize Instagram so much more, because Instagram is just a little bit better business wise, for connection, conversation, having like, you know, you can people post a little bit more of their lives. I think on Instagram too, stories and whatnot are a little bit more utilized. So Instagram has been that platform. I highly suggest that for any business, I think Instagram is where it's at for that connection and brand recognition.

Joey Romero

And yeah, it sort of gives you that balance between business and personal.

Sarah Ayala

Totally, yeah, absolutely. And I tell most people this, I think that Instagram is ever changing business wise, but a lot of people want to see more of the personal than they do the business. I think I spend more time sharing what I'm doing on the day to day out, showing this property doing this, and a little less about this. Is what an Residential Purchase Agreement in is, you know, or explaining that, because they want to see a little bit more of that. So I've been honestly doing a little bit more of like 6040 so 60% personal and 40% business. And it's really. Changed my my business and obtaining business over these last few few years.

Joey Romero

Well, the more variety you give it to, the more the algorithms are going to like you, too. Yeah, because I was, I was watching some of your some of your reels, and I actually one of one of my other I run the Aaron Norris creative funds, Instagram, and so we're connected there, so I see a lot of your interaction through that. And so what, what I was, the one that stuck out to me was like, dating, dating ideas. Yeah. So now, so what, what? What content do you see? Converts the most for you. Is it? Is it the reels? Is it the infographics, like, what do you? What do you? What do you see the best

Sarah Ayala

results from Great question, my stories, my Instagram Stories, reels are great. I always tell reels are great too. They're great for going viral, getting more followers, but connection and creating like conversation and closing on a lead or getting a lead. Stories, people are swiping up in stories, asking questions, and that's where I'm creating the most conversations and getting the most leads.

Joey Romero

Now, one of the things that you're not just posting, since I do follow you, you're in my DMs. So yeah, yeah. So now that's a strategy, right? So you send a lot of your updates. How did that start? And what made you that, what made you make that decision to go ahead and start doing that?

Sarah Ayala

Yeah, so I created a channel on my page first. So I did that because I just post out updates there, and that goes directly into DMS. And I did that because there's a very, very small percentage of my following that wants analytics, data, what's going on. They can all get that from that Instagram channel, and that gets sent directly to your DMS, whoever is subscribed to that channel. And then I've on my reels, and if anyone comments or asks questions, and it could be keywords or asking a specific question, I've set up many chat, many chats. Really awesome. So that connects directly to their DMS, and I can send them just a pre written out, you know, description, or whatever they might be asking. It could be a link to the information, could be a link to the house, or it could be a link to a consultation with me that's get sent to the sent to the DMS also. But we've had a really strategic, I've had a really strategic way of connecting with my following too. And it's not just business related. Like, I want to know what bread you're eating and you posted. Like, I want to know what your favorite coffee shop is like. If something looks good on your page, I'm going to interact with you on that one. That sense too. So if

Joey Romero

you want to, if you want to sound authentic, you gotta kind of be authentic. You do?

Sarah Ayala

You absolutely do. Yeah. And it's not really a strategy. It's generally like, my Instagram page is my personal business. It's all of it, you know. And so I may be showing up in your DMS as Riverside realtor Sarah Ayala, but it's very much Sarah Ayala interacting with you and, you know, curious about what you're eating or whatever it might be.

Joey Romero

So have any of these DMS turned into deals? Absolutely.

Sarah Ayala

Yeah, a lot of them have. What's your favorite one? So I think one of my favorite ones, Oh, I love this story. So I had gotten a phone call from just a random stranger. He was Stan. He was so nice, him and his wife, the sweet probably one of my favorite transactions I've ever done. And he's like, I have been following Guillaume since, I think he said, like, 2017 and he's like, I haven't liked anything, commented on anything. DMD, nothing. Like, I have no interaction with you, but I've been watching everything you do. And I would love for you to sell our house in Eastville and our Corona and we want to, or, sorry, they were in San Bernardino at the time, and they bought in Eastville. So please come sell our house in San Bernardino, and, you know, sell us this home in Eastvale. And I thought that stood out so much to me, because you have no idea who you're speaking to. Like, a lot of times you're just talking to a blank screen. You don't know who's interacting. And I call them like blind supporters, right? Like they watch everything you do. They see you showing up. They just don't necessarily interact. And that was probably my favorite and most reassuring that, like, Okay, what I'm doing is working here. And, yeah, that's probably one of my favorite stories.

Joey Romero

So now, if an agent is doing some of these things that you're doing, what's the one thing that you recommend that they do not do when they're sending

Sarah Ayala

these DMS, yeah? DM specifically, please do not. Oh, gosh, I hate this term, but I want to use it right now. Commission. Breath is really, you know, prominent, you know, I've never heard Brett say that one. I know I'm gonna use it right now, but I think it can be also translated in DMS, right. Like, okay, do not if someone's not responding back to you. Please don't message them a fifth, seventh, eighth, 10th time. You know, I think that's a quick way to get blocked and maybe, like, lose some credibility as a real estate agent, I DMS shouldn't be for continuous follow up. I think they should be for continuous value. So if they asked a question about a property, let's just call it like a Spanish style home, and you see one that also. It was a Spanish style home that you're like, Ooh, maybe I can connect them with this one. Also send them over the link. Hey, just thought about you because you liked this home. This home just just got listed. Like to send this over. Or if you have something really great to share about interest rates or something like that, I think value is more important than Hey. Are you thinking of selling? Are you thinking of buying? You know, I think a value piece needs to be added to whatever you're DMing, sure.

Joey Romero

All right, well, let's talk about the investor side a little bit. How much of your business does come from investors? Do you work with investors

Sarah Ayala

at all? So, funny enough, not a lot of my business comes from investors. I do. What I do get, though, is a lot of distressed properties. You know those connection calls from my childhood best friend, or whatever it might be. That's one of the ones I sold, you know, her grandma's house. It was in distress, and they needed to offload it. And so those are mainly listings that I'm receiving investment side. And I'm excited we have been starting to see some of the millennials and the people who are, you know, my age demographic, starting to be curious about investing. So we're starting to enter that market. But a very small percentage of my business has been coming from investing.

Joey Romero

The ones that you have worked with, what? What do they expect from, from realtors?

Sarah Ayala

I think transparency. So transparency is huge. And I think that's where the emotional connection that I have. I know you mentioned, you know, confidence, kindness and that and whatnot. I think that has been huge with some of these investment properties, the ones that are approaching me almost in a sense of like embarrassment, maybe you know from the the state of their property, or whatever it might be or not, knowing which next steps to take. Education is huge, and compassion has been second to that. And options. Everyone wants options

Joey Romero

because so what is a strong agent investor relationship look like?

Sarah Ayala

Yeah, I think for me, especially because I'm probably your perfect client. I think it's education like. I want to be educated on the process. I want to know options. I want to know what information I should be sharing. I want to know what you can provide, how we can partner. So education is huge. I get probably about, I want to, this is dramatic, but 80 phone calls a week from investors and investment groups and people like wanting to somehow connect and create, you know, business and a lot of that, they're missing the big piece of that value add, right? It's more like, Hey, do you got anything for us? Do you got anything for us? How good you know? How can I help you? How can we help you? And it's not very much like, Hey, here's a resource for you, or especially for me, who's kind of green in that area. I have no idea. I think I'd be more inclined to partnership. If someone was providing a sense of value. That would be huge.

Joey Romero

Well, that's going to do it for part one of our interview with Sarah Ayala, broker associate with tower agency in Riverside California. Tune in next week for part two.

Narrator

for more information on hard money loans, trust deed investing and upcoming events with the Norris group. Check out the norrisgroup.com. For more information on passive investing through the DBL capital Real Estate Investment Fund, please visit DPL capital.com

Joey Romero

the Norris group originates and services loans in California and Florida under the California Dre license 01219911, Florida mortgage lender license 1577, and NMLS license 1623669, for more information on hard money lending. Go to the Norris group.com and click the hard money tab.