33 Years in Real Estate: Paul Klenk on Leveling Up, AI Leads, and What Never Changes

Want the best insights from this episode and more in bite-sized nuggets? Sign up for our free newsletter at https://undercontractnotes.com/ Guest Bio: Paul Klenk is a veteran real estate agent based in Olympia, Washington, with over 33 years of experience in the industry. A former Marine Corps officer, he began his real estate career in a small Minnesota town before relocating to Olympia, where he has built a long-running independent practice under his own name, paulklenk.com. Episode Summary: Paul Klenk joins Under Contract to reflect on more than three decades in real estate, tracing the industry's evolution from press-hard triplicate paperwork to AI-driven lead generation. He shares the mindset and strategic moves that leveled up his business, his philosophy on lead follow-up and referrals, and why he believes AI will reshape the mechanics of the job without ever replacing the human relationship at its core. What's Covered: Paul recounts his path into real estate after five years as a Marine Corps officer, starting with 80 transactions in 18 months in a small Minnesota town with no MLS, no team, and no home inspections.He identifies switching brokerages to surround himself with top-producing peers, plus attending a Brian Buffini systems course, as the key turning points that leveled up his business.Paul lays out his advice for an agent starting from zero in a new city: target agents nearing retirement for referral business and consider buying leads to jumpstart a database, while acknowledging buyer agency shifts have made this harder than in his early years.He breaks down his current client sources, noting roughly half his business comes from past clients and about 30 percent now comes organically from AI search referrals, a trend he attributes to decades of consistent Zillow advertising and owning his own domain name.Paul describes his simple, professional follow-up process for new leads, contrasts aggressive versus relational follow-up styles, and explains his approach to warmly handing off overflow leads to trusted junior agents at a fair referral rate.Asked what he would change with a magic wand, he says new agents should be required to act as their own transaction coordinators for their first two years to force them to learn how to manage a deal, and he closes by predicting AI will streamline listing paperwork while human relationships remain the unchanging core of the business. Timestamps: 00:00:22 - Introducing guest Paul Klenk from Olympia, Washington00:00:43 - Paul's path from the Marine Corps into real estate00:01:24 - Early career in a small Minnesota town with no MLS or transaction coordinators00:03:29 - How real estate has constantly changed over 30-plus years00:07:42 - The turning points that leveled up Paul's business00:10:00 - Leveling up by surrounding himself with top producers and taking a Buffini course00:12:22 - Thought experiment: building a business from scratch in a new city00:15:05 - Discussion of an aggressive $60,000 a month lead-buying strategy00:17:54 - Where Paul's best clients come from today, including past clients00:20:07 - The importance of owning his own domain and online presence00:21:11 - Getting roughly 30 percent of business from AI search referrals00:22:02 - Paul's simple lead follow-up process00:24:14 - Warm handoff strategy and referral fee philosophy when too busy00:25:36 - Magic wand answer: making new agents be their own transaction coordinators00:27:22 - Paul's current use of ChatGPT in his listing business00:29:10 - Predictions for AI's role in real estate five years from now00:30:10 - Why the human relationship in real estate will never change00:31:23 - Where to find Paul Klenk and closing remarks