Today’s track: Oh My Heart — R.E.M.

Louisville Business First just put out a Top 20 People to Know in Real Estate (pay wall…of course). Some of the names I know well and think are great! Some I’ve never once heard of in 13 years of doing this.

So I figured, hey — I’m deep in the space, and The Morning Bergeron’s daily audience is about three times the size of Business First’s. Might as well put one out. Here are 25 people who are just incredible. Nobody paid to be on it. These are the people I actually call — from 13 years in the business, every KREIA meeting and meetup I could get to, and a lot of deals that went sideways and got fixed by somebody on this list. To keep it honest, I left my own Winner Realty agents off the list to get rid of bias.

These are in no particular order. Every person here has an email or a website so you can reach them directly. Tell them Rob I said hello!

How this list was made. Nobody paid to be here and nobody asked to be. These are my recommendations from 13 years in this industry — some of the brightest minds in it.

Title & Closings · Mentor · Borders & Borders · [email protected]

My mentor for well over a decade. I watch what he does and how he says it, then try to do the same. Leads with kindness, generous with his time, my first call in any emergency. We sit down every year and go through my financials and taxes. He’s also the reason Winner Realty is connected to Hand in Hand Ministries — Harry invited me on my first trip, and today Winner Realty donates 1% of net profits to Hand in Hand.

Contract to Close · Compliance · Winner Realty · [email protected]

The one exception to my no-Winner-Realty rule. The best contract-to-close coordinator in this market for wholesalers and the reason our agents’ deals close clean — 420+ transactions in eight years, including short sales, lease options, land contracts, novations, and assignments. She also runs her own contract-to-close business for wholesalers. If your deals are dying between contract and closing table, email her.

Investor · Rentals & Short-Term

The Alex Hormozi of our market. Everything he does, I end up doing — pull-ups, sprints, carnivore, Bitcoin, no seed oils. Former school teacher. He and his wife Christina (also an agent, and incredible) always bought right, ran the BRRRR method, and got into Airbnb early. Great family man. Look him up on YouTube.

Property Management · 200+ Doors · [email protected]

Owns a property management company with 200+ doors; his family owns the farm out in Prospect you might know from Henry’s Ark. He and his fiancée Madison Meredith (Winner) are incredible. Whenever I need insight or plain cleverness, I go to Luca — he keeps me out of pitfalls. We had lunch every Tuesday for about five years. Always buying multifamily and industrial, especially industrial with real amperage.

Evictions · Landlord-Tenant Law · Rawn Law Firm · [email protected]

My go-to for evictions, and I give everybody her information. The best in the business for our market. I use her for all of mine and send every client to her.

Insurance · Fox Insurance & Investments · Erie Insurance · foxiandi.com

Handles all of my insurance, and nearly all of my clients use him now. When my truck got stolen, he handled the replacement and was incredible. Erie’s been around almost as long as State Farm, spends little on marketing, and my understanding is they stay out of flood zones, which keeps rates down. Always shop your rates. Full disclosure: he pays me nothing. I think I get a $5 ice cream gift card, and I don’t even really eat ice cream anymore.

Investor · Self-Directed IRAs · Former KREIA President · kreia.com

One of the more curious people in this industry. He reads the news the way I do — when something crazy happens, it’s “what an interesting time to be alive,” not “this sucks.” Real longevity, generous with his time, and an expert in self-directed IRAs who’s passionate about it. If you’ve wondered whether your retirement money could be buying real estate, ask Chris.

Investor · KREIA President · Renewed Hope LLC · [email protected]

President of KREIA and one of the best brains in this industry to pick. Heart for people, servant leader, savvy investor, and just a great person — I think everybody who meets John feels a connection with him. He and his wife Joy teach couples how to get into investing and keep their balance while they do it.

Seller Financing · Creative Deals · Truka · [email protected]

We’ve worked together for well over a decade. A wizard with seller financing, creative financing, land contracts — all of it. Farm boy out of Evansville who worked his way up with his brother Aaron. Great person to learn from, and always willing to try one of my weird ideas just to see what happens.

Author · Landlord Systems · Landlording on Autopilot · [email protected]

Wrote Landlording on Autopilot, a bestseller he keeps revising as the technology changes. Former police officer, wealth of knowledge. Read the book. Mike and I once hosted a happy hour in California with David Greene — I brought $16 million in off-market deals, the lender, PM, and title, and put Louisville in front of a room full of wealthy people. I was on his Power Lunch recently; it’s worth your Tuesday.

Geotechnical Engineering · Louisville Geotech · [email protected]

A great dude — curious, a plug who knows a ton of people, great mind for ideas. He owns a geotechnical engineering firm, one of those things you don’t need until you really need it, and when you do, there are only a few locally owned options. Austin is the local one.

Luxury Real Estate · Lenihan Sotheby’s International Realty · [email protected]

We came up together at Keller Williams. He went luxury, I went investment — he’s a lot more suited up and polished than I am. One of the best luxury agents in the city, a wealth of knowledge, and a great person. If you’re in that space, talk to him.

That said: I’m looking for a luxury-focused agent at Winner Realty — someone with real experience I can back with all our tools, leads, and resources. If you think you’re that agent, hit me up.

What we’re building at Winner Realty

I want every agent at Winner Realty to have a niche and be the expert in it: Jake Fabish for carpentry, Shey Blake for tenant placement, Kasey Robinson for Southern Indiana and Kentucky investment deals (ten years of flipping and BRRRR), and Cameron Keehn, rocker +Dad +Full time night shit at USPS, that wasn’t enough he wanted to get his mortgage license — we got it for him at no cost and now he lends in Kentucky and Indiana. Our Aussie Wendy Zolnowski provides staging services. At Winner Realty the name of the game is: Empower, empower, empower!

Data · OffMarket.deals · Property Partner · [email protected]

My business partner in Property Partner, the parent company of OffMarket.deals and Property Partner Data Company. Jason is the catalyst behind everything OffMarket.deals has become — the top 25 buyers for every asset class on every deal, the buyer list, the functionality. I tell him a whim and two weeks later it’s built. He’s empowered Colleen, who runs all our dispo.

Reminder: every Winner Realty agent and every wholesaler working with OffMarket.deals gets their deals in front of that audience, plus a shout-out in this newsletter — 60,000+ readers, opened by 30,000+ people every day — plus Facebook Marketplace and every Facebook group in town. No other brokerage can offer that.

Mortgage Lending · CrossCountry Mortgage · [email protected]

My lender since I started in early 2013. Persistent and consistent with follow-up: he sends gifts to my clients on behalf of both of us and tells me when past clients reach out to buy, sell, or get pre-approved, so I lock in that business. Hosts events, down to clown on things like our Party in the Woods, and his right hand Lauren is incredible. Every traditional buyer and seller I have goes to Bobby.

Photo & Video · Drone · Selfmade Drones and Productions · [email protected]

My photographer and videographer for as long as I’ve been in the game, and now one of the largest producers in the city — maybe the largest. We share a love of Jay’s Burgers. A great investor himself (developing, rezoning, flipping), always up for a curious idea. I’m still trying to talk him into bringing on some college kids to help my wholesalers with lockbox drops and photos. I always work with the best, and Chad is the best.

Programmer · Developer · [email protected]

Longtime friend and my former weightlifting partner — well over a decade now. The original builder of The Louisville Network, which you know today as OffMarket.deals. He owned a wildly successful team at Keller Williams, then left his six-figure job to get into programming because it inspired him. I’m proud of him for that. Steady, well-read, kind. If you need a developer to run an idea past or bid out a build, Nick is the guy — and if he can’t take it on, he’ll point you to someone who can.

CRM · AI & Marketing Automation · Elevate Connections · [email protected]

Runs the CRM for all of our Winner Realty agents, and he’ll come into your business and build the automations for you. If you get more than five inbound leads a week, you need his AI setup, and it’s very affordable. Hands-on, creative, a prolific marketer who’s done a lot for my own understanding of AI — and he builds AI infrastructure for a property management company here that makes them excel.

Agent · Investor · NuLu Commercial [email protected]

We go back well over a decade — he played on the basketball team I started at Keller Williams. One of my favorite ginger friends. Licensed agent, always willing to learn and try something new. He owns the NuLu commercial space that’s home to Gravely and Greenside Pizza, and runs a management company serving recovery and group homes — he has a heart for people. Lots of BRRRRs, lots of flips, a great sounding board.

Agent · Bilingüe · Ready Set Home · [email protected]

A Spanish-speaking agent who is such a hard worker. Incredible marketing! She’s not at my brokerage, but I want her at my brokerage — she’d make for a great Winner. Incredible volume, a heart for people, kind and drama-free on a cross-sale, and her buyers close. Si necesitas un agente que hable español, Paola es tu primera opción, en mi opinión.

Self-Storage · Short-Term Rentals · Barrel Proof Stays · [email protected]

A prolific self-storage and Airbnb owner who’s been around KREIA well over a decade. Jay reads the news and actually processes it — I’m always curious what he’s saying on social media because he’s insightful. I follow him closely, and I’d recommend you do the same.

Home Inspection · Borders Home Inspection · [email protected]

Inspects all of my investment properties and did my personal home. An investor himself, so he knows what everyone is doing and why, and he does video walkthroughs for my out-of-state investors. I have never had an issue working with Nick.

Attorney · Litigation · Aligned Law · [email protected]

My attorney. He’s helped me with my lawsuit with Joe and Kim Worth, and I’ve sent him a lot of people we all know in this industry. His firm also serves some of the very big players in this market. Great resource, wealth of experience.

Title & Escrow · Wholesale Closings · Next Title · [email protected]

A contemporary of mine who’s curious about the world and dives past the surface — he enjoys troubleshooting and sees the value in going deeper. We get more out of things when we learn more about them, and Alex learns. He’s also a great title attorney with 250+ wholesale assignments closed. We’re building something to teach wholesalers novations, assignments, short sales, seller financing, and land-contract exits. More on that soon. Next Title specializes in short sales as well, a rare and special tool!

Turnkey Rentals · Property Management · Freedom Property Group · [email protected]

Super intelligent and curious, prolific in turnkey rentals and property management, and great on wealth building and how markets actually work. Whenever I drop a good stat in here, Erik emails “where did you find that?” (Last one: homes under $200K getting 20% fewer showings. I know, right?)

Erik is a licensed agent, and he still uses me to represent him as a buyer. A lot of people on this list are clients. When realtors use me to list and buy, that’s the best compliment there is — I take being the realtor’s realtor seriously. If you’re a realtor and I can do something for you, I’d love to. Everybody’s good at different things.

Twenty-five spots isn’t enough. A lot of people slipped my mind, and if you’re one of them, my apologies — I’m sure you’re great. You’re wonderful. I’ll keep you in mind for next year’s list.

In the meantime, #25 is you. Who do you think I need to know in real estate? I’d love an introduction. And if you think you’re one of the people I need to know, I’d love to talk. Schedule a time to talk · [email protected]

This is a top 25, so it can’t hold everyone. If you want my CPA, my hard money lender, my commercial lender, my plumbers, my electricians, or my contractors — any of those people — hit me up. I’m happy to make the intro.

📊 Yesterday’s poll: Half of you said deal with it head-on, immediately — that took 50% of the vote. 31% call someone smarter than them, 19% wait and see if it fixes itself. Zero — not a single one of you — copped to pretend I didn't see it. That's exactly the response I was hoping for after yesterday's issue.

Today's poll:

With Enthusiasm,
Rob Bergeron

Owner–Realtor at Award-Winning Winner Realty
Winner Realty | OffMarket.deals | Property Partner Data Company

Schedule time to discuss your goals, bottlenecks, or whatever’s on your mind — book me here.

The Morning Bergeron daily track playlist

PS: If this list is useful, forward it to one person who’s trying to get started in Louisville real estate. Every one of these people would be happy to serve in their special way.

PSS: Free webinar next Wednesday, Sep 16, 11 AM ET: “Steal My AI Stack: What a Louisville Realtor Actually Built with Claude.” 45 minutes, no pitch. Grab a seat here.

PSSS: If you’re in the market, here’s where I’d start looking. All four-bedroom-plus single family homes under $277,000. Every multifamily property we’ve got available right now. Land deals with seller financing on the table. Available STRs — look hard at the new tax changes before you buy. Everything Winner Realty has listed right now. And OffMarket.deals just dropped a batch of new off-market additions — check them out!

PSSSS: Let’s make some music…