Jeff Plous would climb fences to make a deal happen. And he has.
A fence and a “solicitors will be shot” sign stood between the Denver agent and his first sale in 2008: a home under $700,000 in the popular Washington Park neighborhood for the best friend of a stepcousin (sales were difficult to come by then).
The lender required two signed letters from the buyer’s former landlords. Plous woke up in the middle of the night to call the one in Australia to get the landlord to send it over, but the other, who just a few miles away in Littleton, Colorado, wasn't getting it done.
Plous drove to the landlord’s home, but it was in a rural gated community. So Plous hopped the fence.
“It was kind of nuts,” Plous said in an interview. “I was going to walk up to their house and knock on their door, and as I’m walking through the streets, I got a call from the lender saying, ‘Oh, they finally sent the letter.’”
Now the challenge was hopping back over the fence without being caught.
“It was, ‘Whatever it takes,’ and that was always my mentality,” said Plous, who sells upward of $70 million annually and closed 69 sales last year.
He sells them all
He doesn’t say no to any homes either; he sells them all — from starter properties to multimillion-dollar homes — something he sees too few agents do.
The founder of Hatch Realty, which he opened in 2020, is consistently the top agent by volume in Denver, according to RealTrends. Plous said his drive comes less from cashing that commission check and more so from his fear of people hating him — a troubling mindset to have as a real estate agent who has to deal with people making what is often the biggest and most stressful purchase of their lives.
It’s also what kept him from hiring an assistant until last year, and his dislike of upsetting people informs how he approaches his relationships with clients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he wouldn't let his clients be swept up in extreme bidding wars that weren't in their best interest.
"You had clients where you're like, 'If you want this house, you have to go $300,000 over asking, you're not going to be able to request anything on inspection, and you have to bring all the money,'" said Plous. "You basically were giving up everything, and it didn't feel like you were able to give your clients good information. You didn't feel like you were helping them win."
Some of Plous’ favorite sales come from his partnership with developers, which he’s become himself — his childhood dream. He owns several lots around his contemporary home in the Sloan Lake neighborhood.
Lofts and living rooms reimagined
Plous grew up in Chicago, splitting weeks between his mother's and father’s homes. His father would venture toward more industrial loft buildings, and the open layout allowed them to build out spaces as they liked, with no creativity stifled.
“I designed my dad’s bedroom. [The bed] was on chains from the ceiling,” Plous said. “You could push it, and it slid. You walked up the stairs and the whole thing hung.”
In another loft, the two accomplished any car fiend’s dream and turned it into a home-meets-automotive shop. They had a lift for the cars they worked on, and the living room was on a platform with caster that they could push out of the way.
Plous still retains the car obsession and development itches his father instilled. With his first paycheck from the fence-hopping sale, he purchased a 1984 Alfa Romeo Spider, just like the ones his father drove.
He flew to California and drove the compact Italian convertible back to Colorado — and didn’t tell his mom.
“It broke down ... a few times,” said Plous, who called his father from the side of the road for repair advice. Plous’ father died in 2012.
Plous has a McLaren and a Ferrari in his garage today but drives his Rivian daily.
Did you always want to be a real estate agent? If not, what did you want to be and why?
“A developer. I used to build model homes out of balsa wood as a kid or draw floor plans. The concept of home was always important to me. My parents divorced when I was 2, and my dad moved around a ton, so I think I just loved the idea of what a home could be.”
Who is/was your mentor?
“I met this developer, Paul Stann. He was my mentor in the development industry, and he passed away a month or so ago. I sold a development that I was the sixth agent to come on for. It was a nine-unit townhome development in Jefferson Park, and they were unsellable. It was 2010.
He said, ‘How quickly can you sell these last four?’ I did my research, and I said six months, which at the time was strong to say. He laughed at me, and I did it in four months. He said on the final closing: ‘Well, you did a good job. If you see any land, let me know, we can work together again.’ He was a rough guy from Detroit.”
“I literally signed over my bank account, and we built what we called Tennyson Seven, my very first development.”
What do you collect?
“Cars. As a kid, everything. Everything. Anything. Thimbles, Legos, model cars, coins, stamps, baseball cards. I loved tinkering with things.”
What trends are you seeing in your market?
“I have a lot of clients moving out of state right now, so I have a lot of listings. I’m very listing heavy this year. Normally, I’m about 50-50 buyers to sellers.
The market is prioritizing turnkey. … Really well-presented houses are selling really well. Stuff that needs more help is not. I’ve been lucky, but the market can turn on a dime.
In Denver, we’re very peaky because we have the mountains, so if the weather is too nice on a weekend when it’s been cold ... Nobody wants to come look at houses because they want to play in the park and they want to do stuff. If mountains are getting hammered, nobody wants to see houses. They want to go skiing.”