A Groupon started Courtney Benson’s Texas real estate career.
She took the last $199 of the $237 in her family’s bank account to sign up for an agent training course, then immediately tried to get a refund.
Calling her husband, Gabe Benson, in frantic tears, he responded to her with calmness: “‘You know what? You’ll be great,’” recalls Courtney, who today sells 30- to 50 homes annually totaling about $30 million. She also runs a real estate TikTok account with 47,000 followers that’s resulted in nearly 100 referrals.
Courtney and Gabe purchased and ran two dry cleaners after six-figure salaries were lost to layoffs in 2008. It was their attempt to direct their own fate amid a flailing job market, cashing in their savings for the career switch.
“Mind you, we didn’t even dry clean our own clothes,” said Courtney, in the unabashed nature she’s known for.
The Bensons were forced to sell their house and start another side hustle — a house cleaning business — while their car was repossessed, and ate unclaimed sandwiches offered by employees at the neighboring Firehouse Subs for years.
With that $38 lingering in the bank account, Courtney pressed on, working for a year on getting her real estate license. She didn’t know why anyone would hire her — she knew as much about real estate as she did dry cleaning. But she at least knew the type of real estate agent she wanted to be.
“There’s so much fluff in our industry. … That’s become my crusade and why I think I’ve been successful on social media,” said Courtney.
She’s long lived unafraid to say what others don’t, and it’s an approach she believes has catapulted her TikTok profile, started in 2020, to become a constant flow of business for her affiliated brokerage, Real.
Courtney doesn’t have a winning social media formula, she simply just says what’s on her mind: Don’t put listing photos up with holiday decor or snow. Take magnets off your fridge: “Nobody cares you vacationed in Colorado.” Buyers should avoid giving feedback after a showing — it reveals their hand. Don’t accept an offer waiving an inspection.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
What’s happening in the Dallas market right now?
I work primarily with our sellers, and my husband Gabe works with buyers. People aren’t as up in arms about the interest rate like everybody talks about. It’s more about the affordability. People are almost pissed off: “I’m spending half a million dollars for a 1,400-square-foot house and the baseboards are missing.“
They almost transition the emotion and are mad at the seller. Only two things are being sold: Either the house is exceptional, and people want it immediately, or you have to provide a value where people feel they’re getting a good deal. People right now feel stupid. They feel like they missed the market and don’t want to be wrong again. It’s a reflection of ego.
What’s the story of your first sale?
They were friends of mine selling their house, then buying. The house they were buying was $420,000. This was 13 years ago, and it was incredible. I had previously made a lot of money but was careless with it, then we lost it all. Your mentality shifts quickly.
I remember I closed on their sale, picked up my check and it was in this big envelope, and they put a Payday candy bar in there. I remember pulling the check out and I started crying. I took a picture of it, sent it to my dad, and said, “Oh my God. I did it.“
When I first started, I thought if I could sell three homes a year, that would change my family’s trajectory. It became infectious.
How has TikTok and Instagram shifted how you market yourself?
When I started, everything was sphere-based: Write down 100 people in your sphere. Well, we’ve annoyed the hell out of those people. What I’ve noticed is I’m actually in peoples’ sphere. I am in their world more than the agent who does the quarterly pop by with popcorn because they see my face on social media every day.
If a new mom is up at 2 a.m. and flips on TikTok, there’s Courtney. When she’s on lunch break at work, there’s Courtney. We get that parasocial relationship. And because I’m authentic and I share and make it fun in real estate, we have this relationship. I’ve shared about losing 140 pounds, about losing all our money. I have breast cancer right now and I’m sharing that.
I give hope that you can be successful, and you don’t have to be a jerk.
When they call me, the conversation becomes, “First of all, oh my God you’ve answered your phone, I’m so excited to talk to you,” and then they ask if I have time to help them.
A lot of them apologize that their house isn’t more expensive, and it’s the most bizarre thing. They never negotiate my commission. They’re so thankful I’m there. I don’t take that for granted.
You teach classes to agents. What do you tell them about social media?
One thing I see that agents miss is not authenticity, it’s charisma. You must have charisma.
You’re not going to connect like in real life because you’re not in person. The micro-expressions you give don’t convey as much. It’s harder for people to pick up on you on social media.
If you don’t have high energy and charisma, you can’t say something with confidence and then you won’t resonate. I always tell people: Harness that excitement of when something crazy happens and you need to call your mom or best friend. Think of your video as your FaceTime call to your first person, and that’s how you’re going to talk to them. The way you’d talk to your friend.
We’re told to suppress that part of us because we’re on commission. We can’t piss people off. I am not for everybody. I piss people off. But I’m in control of my life, I get to decide if I want to work with you or not, not the other way around.