The Broke Agent: The Man Behind the Brand

If you are paying attention to the Real Estate industry on social media then you have definitely heard of The Broke Agent. With over a quarter million followers, this meme-centric Instagram account has taken the industry by storm providing hilarious content as it relates to real estate agents, sales, and the current state of the market. Recently Eric Simon, the owner of The Broke Agent, has been putting himself out on his page(s) to help drive the brand forward to become the go-to entertainment and media platform for residential real estate. But who is Eric Simon, the man behind The Broke Agent brand, and what are his plans for the future? 

Eric Simon is a 31 year old real estate agent living in Brentwood, California. Growing up in Arizona, Eric always had a passion for sports and comedy. The first content he created was rant-like sports poems that he would publish to social media after gut-wrenching losses by his favorite teams. After moving to LA to attend college at USC, he started working at The Laugh Factory Comedy Club to help with their marketing and social media. He quit after a year and spent a couple unemployed months making Vines and writing for his post-grad social commentary blog called, “The Pudgy Caddy.” Soon after a friend reached out and offered him a receptionist position at a luxury real estate brokerage in Beverly Hills called Hilton & Hyland.

“I took the receptionist job because I simply needed a job. I had no intention of getting into real estate and viewed it as temporary work to make some money while I searched for jobs in writing. But, I found that I really enjoyed being around the eccentric characters in the office and ended up doing everything I could to continue my involvement with the brokerage.”

Eventually, Eric was hired to an agent assistant position and later became a buyer’s agent for a team where he sat open houses three days a week to meet potential clients. The lead generation process of cold calling and door knocking felt very unnatural and uncomfortable to him. 

“I found it difficult to get started in a career that seemed to require experience to be any good at it. I had no idea what I was doing and felt like an actor.”

Eric started manifesting his frustrations and anxieties of a commission-only job under the anonymous social media alias called @TheBrokeAgent. He started Tweeting out the inner monologue of a struggling real estate agent and then would post those thoughts to Instagram and Facebook.

“Honestly, my content was very dark and spiteful at first. I disliked almost every aspect of being a real estate agent and couldn’t imagine how anyone else enjoyed it. I became very irritated because it seemed like everyone was killing it besides me... at least it seemed that way on social media. Once I started interacting with like-minded agents I toned down the negativity because I realized I was definitely not alone with my frustrations.”

But, the content worked and the page went VIRAL. Agents across the world found the page and started sharing the content as Eric became a refreshing, relatable voice in the industry. Agents of all levels of success were able to relate to his humor even if they were not in a position to admit it or post about it. Today, @TheBrokeAgent is followed by some of the most famous agent celebrities including Josh Flagg, Frerdkik Eklund, and Mauricio Umansky. The brand has now become a staple in the industry with over half a million followers across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube.  

So, what's next for Eric and The Broke Agent? Right now he is focusing on building out different types of content and media with a network of entertaining real estate personalities like Dan O Neil, Matt Lionetti, and Ben Fisher. Eric and Matt currently host “The Over Ask Podcast” where they have already put together a powerful guest lineup that includes Ryan Serhant, Jordan Cohen, and Maya Vander from Netflix’s Selling Sunset. There is also The Broke News Network, an ever-evolving comedy show intended to educate agents on current events, market conditions, and content strategy. In 2020 Eric found a way to help agents grow their social media and online presence by partnering with a template platform called Coffee & Contracts. Every month he  creates exclusive, funny content for the platform that agents can brand, customize, and post. 

“I want agents to have a better experience than I did when I first started. Our goal is to create a media brand that entertains, educates, and provides newer agents with resources and direction that will improve their actual real estate business.”

New content from the brand will include skits, shows, blogs, news, merchandise, and social media consulting. There also might be happy hours, parties, and eventually conferences on the horizon. We were lucky enough to learn about an additional secret project the team is working on and trust us, you are not going to want to miss out on this one! 

Eric Simon
TheBrokeAgent.com
@thebrokeagent

Are you a Real Estate Agent in need of creative social media content? Connect with the Midrise team at https://midrisemedia.com or via email at team@midrisemedia.com.