Step into the world of success and innovation with Real Estate Champions, a compelling TV show that highlights the exceptional leaders, agents, and investors shaping the real estate industry. Each episode uncovers the strategies, leadership, and insights that fuel the success of industry trailblazers, offering practical takeaways for professionals across residential, commercial, and investment real estate.
Real Estate Champions brings together top professionals and thought leaders from various sectors of real estate, including residential, commercial, and property development. These influential guests share their journeys, expertise, and advice to inspire and empower the next wave of real estate leaders and entrepreneurs. Today our host, Sarah Olson, spoke with Bill Bymel.
Bill Bymel
CEO at First Lien Capital
Website Address: https://firstliencapital.com/
Short company description:
Special Servicer, Asset and Real Estate Property Management for private equity, banks, and funds.
Transcript:
Sarah:
Welcome back to another episode of Real Estate Champions. I’m your host, Sarah Olson, and today we are talking with Bill Bymel of First Lean Capital, joining us all the way from Las Vegas, Nevada. Bill, welcome to the show.
Bill:
It’s great to be with you, Sarah. Thanks for having me.
Sarah:
Thank you for being here. Tell us a little bit about your history. I know you’re a Floridian who moved to Vegas, and you’re about to celebrate your birthday—I won’t say the number!
Bill:
You can say it—my 50th.
Sarah:
Your 50th birthday!
Bill:
I prefer 39.
Sarah:
You don’t look a day over 20. Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do at First Lean Capital.
Bill:
I’m a Floridian by upbringing—I grew up in Fort Lauderdale. My father was a real estate broker for developers in the ’70s and ’80s, but I never imagined I’d end up in real estate myself. I was one of the few people who left Florida in 2020 rather than moved there.
Throughout my life, I always found myself pulled back to real estate. I returned to Florida in 2002 and got into the business, not just as a real estate broker but also as a fix-and-flip investor. I always wanted to practice what my dad preached. I started flipping residential homes in Fort Lauderdale while raising a family in Jupiter.
I eventually got involved in commercial real estate, helping national restaurant chains like Darden Restaurants and McDonald’s, as well as retailers like CVS, find locations in South Florida. We even brought BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse to Florida and developed that entire expansion plan.
While I was doing all of that—and dabbling in fix-and-flips—I got a random phone call in the summer of 2008, about three months before Lehman Brothers collapsed. It was from a fund manager buying mortgage loans from a failed bank through the FDIC. He could name his price, but he didn’t know what the underlying real estate was worth. These were brand-new construction homes in Port Saint Lucie. If you’ve ever seen The Big Short, I basically lived a version of that.
Sarah:
That’s incredible. And that opportunity just fell into your lap because of your network and the work you were already doing.
Bill:
Exactly. One thing I’ve learned in life is that you never know when a random phone call will change everything. Staying open to opportunity—and being resilient through turbulent times—is essential in business, especially in real estate.
Sarah:
Right, because you were flipping homes, then doing commercial, then 2008 hit. But you already understood value and investing. It sounds like a natural progression that people would turn to you for expertise.
Bill:
You know, I’ll admit—I continually make mistakes. That’s part of life. Hall-of-Fame baseball players only hit .300 or .400. We, as investors, try to stay on the right side more often than not, and that’s what leads to success. You learn from the losses, too. After going through several market cycles, I feel we have a level of knowledge and perspective that many others don’t.
Sarah:
Absolutely. We talked about cycles during our call before recording. I’ve been in this business 25 years, and you do start recognizing the signs.
Speak to our audience about the new agents getting into this industry. There are so many entering the business right now, and the stats are staggering. A report just yesterday said 240,000 real estate agents will be out of the business by 2026, which actually frees up about 14% more opportunity for the agents who stay.
We’ve had a challenging year. Depending on who you ask, predictions for 2026 vary. But new agents are still getting licensed. What advice do you have for them?
Bill:
I was there myself—25 years ago I became an agent, and 22 years ago I became a broker. I’ve kept my license ever since, even though I haven’t represented clients directly in over a decade. I still have people working under me in Florida.
Here’s the first thing: my father used to say, “Anyone can sell real estate in an up market.” The TikTok generation watched a period of massive success… and now activity has come to a screeching halt. So new agents are entering at a moment when the business is pulling back.
We’re also watching the shifting winds of who controls the real estate industry. Will MLSs lose influence as lawsuits continue? Or are the companies suing NAR and the associations—Zillow, Redfin—actually the ones creating their own monopolies?
But here’s my number one piece of advice:
Spend 75% of your time prospecting.
Whether you’re a listing agent or a buyer’s agent, prospecting is everything. Don’t get distracted by switching brokerages or obsessing over flyers and branding. Yes, you need to learn your market—that’s the other 25% of your time. But your number one job is to keep feeding your funnel.
If you’re a listing agent, you should be going on 20 listing appointments a week. Prospect, prospect, prospect.
This is a sales business. That will never change. You have to get good at it, and you have to be a trusted advisor.
Today, the value of an agent isn’t access to the product—technology has democratized that. Deals happen on and off MLS. Tools are getting more transparent. One of my friends launched a platform called Real Trade Bio to democratize the sales process for agents.
So the value of an agent now lies in knowledge and personal relationships. Be a strategic advisor in your market—and be the person who prospects relentlessly.
Sarah:
That’s longevity right there. That’s how you and I have stayed in business from day one until… whenever we decide to retire.
Bill:
Exactly.
Sarah:
Before we wrap up, you have a podcast you want to share?
Bill:
Yes. I recently launched a new podcast. I previously hosted The Real Estate Lowdown for two or three years, and those episodes are still available with a lot of great content. But my new show is called The Debt Doctor.
You can find it anywhere you listen to podcasts. If you prefer video, search “Bill Bymel— The Debt Doctor” on YouTube.
We’re building an audience of people who want intellectual, in-depth conversations—mostly folks who are really in the business. We dive into cutting-edge topics, and we’d love to have more listeners join us.
Sarah:
Wonderful. Thank you so much for being on the show. I’ve enjoyed talking with you both on and off camera. And thank you all for watching Real Estate Champions. For more information on Bill and how to connect with him, visit DailyNewsNetwork.com.
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