1369: How to Become the #1 Agent in Your County with Lindsey Harn

Most agents treat real estate like a hobby. Lindsey Harn treats it like a mini corporation, and that one decision has made her the number one agent in sales volume in San Luis Obispo County every year since 2019, with more than $1.38 billion in closed sales. In this episode, you’ll discover how a Cal Poly psychology grad who fell into real estate “on accident” in 2008 watched the top producers in her office short-sell their own homes, and how that early lesson built the conservative, cyclical mindset that still runs her business today. Lindsey breaks down exactly where her listings come from (50% referrals, 25% agent referrals, 25% organic online searches, including ChatGPT), why second-home buyers from the Bay Area and LA choose the sharp professional over the flip-flop agent, and the surprisingly simple way she landed her first closing within three months of getting licensed. We also dig into a niche most agents never think about: high-conflict divorce listings, where one spouse will sabotage a sale out of spite and cost both parties over $200,000. Lindsey explains how one case that nearly sent her to the witness stand pushed her to become a Certified Divorce Real Estate Expert, and how that skill now transfers to probate and estate sales. Along the way, she shares the advice she’d give her 2010 self about killing other agents with kindness, why new agents should preview property every single week, and why every agent needs to protect their mindset daily. Are you ready to run your business like the number one agent in your market?

Listen to today’s show and learn:

Introduction to Lindsey’s Journey [00:00]
What Makes the San Luis Obispo Market Unique [03:24]
Lessons From Starting in the 2008 Crash [07:06]
Why Lindsey Has Been the #1 Agent Since 2019 [09:05]
Kill Other Agents With Kindness [11:56]
Landing Your First Deal by Being Helpful [16:06]
A Tougher Market Means Hiring a Pro [24:24]
Mastering High-Conflict Divorce Listings [28:03]
Advice for New Agents and Protecting Your Mindset [35:19]
Plus so much more!

Lindsey Harn

Lindsey Harn is the founder of the Lindsey Harn Group and a REALTOR with Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno in San Luis Obispo, California. With more than 16 years in the business, she has personally handled over 1,500 transactions and closed more than $1.38 billion in sales, and she has been the number one agent in San Luis Obispo County by both sales volume and transaction count since 2019.

Lindsey is a member of the Christie’s International Real Estate Masters Circle, an elite group of roughly 180 top-performing luxury agents worldwide, and was named to its Masters Circle in 2019, 2020, and 2021. RealTrends placed her in the top 1% of U.S. real estate professionals in 2022, and in 2020 ranked her No. 19 out of roughly 191,000 California agents by transaction sides and No. 195 out of 1.4 million U.S. agents by sales volume. She is also the only Barbara Corcoran-recommended agent on the Central Coast.

A Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate with a B.S. in psychology, Lindsey began her career in 2008 and spent nearly a decade at RE/MAX Del Oro before joining Richardson Properties in 2018 and rejoining Christie’s International Real Estate in January 2023. Beyond luxury and coastal properties, she is a Certified Divorce Real Estate Expert who handles 10 to 20 divorce-related sales a year, and she coaches other agents on negotiation and business building.

Lindsey has been featured on KSBY, The Tribune, Lifetime’s Designing Spaces, TLC’s My First Home, MarthaStewart.com, Thrive Global, Authority Magazine, and NBCNews.com, and she writes on the housing market for HousingWire.

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-Aaron Amuchastegui