“REALTORSⓇ are uniquely positioned to help bridge life events for people and highlight a solution-based approach to customer interactions,” says Dain Laverty, managing partner at Property Pals USA. “There are different types of REALTORSⓇ and, like in any industry, we are far more powerful when we collaborate as a group than [we are] as individuals.” 

Before venturing into the collaborative world of real estate, Dain worked for technology companies in sales roles that focused on domestic and international expansion. Never an “avid” student in the classroom, even during his time studying business and finance at San Francisco State University, Dain considers himself a student of life experiences and relationships; he gained both in spades while growing up in a military family that was stationed across the globe. 

“I’ve been fortunate enough to travel and live in different parts of the world for extended periods of time, and it gave me a better understanding of people,” Dain says. “It reinforced empathy and understanding for people from different walks of life.” 

The idea of a career in real estate only occurred to Dain after his job at a food-tech firm ended unexpectedly. Left with little, he was forced to rethink his future career path with a fresh and open perspective, while also wondering how he could best leverage his background in business development and his personal connections. 

“I was laid off during the pandemic and needed to find my place in life,” he explains. “My sales experience allowed for a natural transition into real estate, which I saw as an opportunity to not only parlay the skills I’d gained in the tech industry, but also place a greater focus on customer interactions.” 

Dain faced the usual challenges of all new REALTORSⓇ plus a few more. Along with the decision to work with more distressed properties, he took a chance on higher rewards by taking on additional risk. By investing much of his own capital in his burgeoning business, Dain put his own money on the line. 

“We started this business with unemployment checks and routinely ate two-for-$3 McChicken® sandwiches at McDonald’s and Walgreens-brand saltines with peanut butter to save and reinvest whatever [money] we could into the business,” he recalls.

Since the early days, in addition to doubling down on buying and selling off-market or distressed homes, Dain has worked to create processes and systems for vetting properties to reduce the unknowns. And over the last nearly four years, his team at Property Pals USA continues to fine-tune and improve to make the interactions with their customers as seamless as possible. 

Despite the hurdles he’s come up against, Dain believes the results make the daily grind worth it, especially when it comes to clients who are facing situations where they don’t know where to turn. 

“Creating winning situations for sellers and buyers is the most rewarding part of being an agent,” he says. “Those outcomes align heavily with why I got into the business.” 

Dain also leans on his analytical and business development expertise to continually create and refine the mature sales strategies that have been driving the company’s impressive growth. 

“Right now we are passionate about creating predictable marketing channels that we can reverse engineer to hit our goals and take out the guesswork when we’re trying to predict what our productivity will look like in the next thirty to sixty days,” Dain explains. “From fallout rates to appointments to contract rates—it is something that we have seen work time and again. This will be where our biggest opportunity for growth will come from in the next twelve months.”

 

When not finding new ways to impact his business, Dain is always on the lookout for ways to impact his community. Through supporting organizations like The Simple Good, a nonprofit that focuses on empowering young people through art and education, Dain aims to spread positivity in his neighborhood and beyond. In his downtime, he enjoys swimming; salsa dancing with his wife, Gli; and continuing his lifelong passion of traveling. 

Looking forward, Dain has big goals for Property Pals USA and his team. While he also hopes to one day move into property ownership and investment, in his role and in real estate, Dain has found the ideal mix of everyday puzzles and long-term development. 

“Starting a real estate business has been, far and away, the most challenging thing that I’ve ever done,” he says. “You have to learn to love the process, building, and dirty work of getting out there and taking action.” 

“Real estate is my future,” affirms Dain. “I have found something that I’m naturally talented at and I’m building my future around it.”