What 20 Years in Miami Real Estate Taught Me About People

After two decades in Miami real estate, here’s the truth that might surprise you.

It wasn’t the contracts that taught me the most.
It wasn’t the cycles.
It definitely wasn’t the headlines.

It was people.

Miami real estate is not really about property. It is about identity, fear, ambition, memory, ego, family, and timing. Sometimes all in the same transaction.

People think they are buying a house. They are actually buying a version of themselves they want to become.

Over the years, I have learned that most decisions are not logical, even when people insist they are. They are emotional decisions dressed up in spreadsheets, comps, and confident language. And that is not a bad thing. It is just human.

I have seen buyers walk into a house and suddenly soften because it reminded them of their childhood home. I have seen sellers swear they are ready, only to freeze when it becomes real. I have seen people negotiate aggressively over money and then completely cave over a view, a tree, or a feeling they cannot explain.

Miami amplifies all of this.

This city attracts big personalities and big dreams. People arrive here reinventing themselves. Some are running toward something. Some are running away from something. Sometimes both.

What 20 years teaches you is pattern recognition.

You learn who is buying out of excitement and who is buying out of fear.
You learn who is selling for the right reasons and who is going to regret it.
You learn when to push and when to slow someone down even if it costs you the deal.

Early in my career, I learned that prioritizing my clients over the closing sometimes meant losing the deal. Those losses turned into long term relationships, and that changed how I defined success.

What time also teaches you is the power of listening.

Not the kind where you wait for your turn to speak, but the kind where you hear what is not being said. The pause before an answer. The hesitation. The shift in tone. That is often where the real decision lives.

And yes, you learn that people lie. Sometimes to you. Often to themselves.

They say they want walkability but really want validation.
They say they want quiet but choose chaos.
They say they want to simplify but keep buying bigger.

No judgment. Just observation.

What keeps me here after 20 years is not the deals. It is the privilege of being invited into moments that actually matter. Divorce. Death. Birth. Growth. Downsizing. Starting over. Cashing out. Holding on.

Homes are where life shows up unfiltered.

If you stay in this business long enough and pay attention, you realize that real estate is one of the few industries where you see people exactly as they are, not as they present themselves online.

That is a responsibility.

It is also why I still believe deeply in doing this work the right way. With honesty. With context. With restraint. With humor when needed. And with backbone when it matters.

Miami does not need louder agents.
It needs steadier ones.

Twenty years in, I am less impressed by big talk and more impressed by consistency. Less interested in volume and more interested in impact. Less focused on selling homes and more focused on helping people make decisions they can live with.

That is what Miami real estate taught me about people.

And I am still learning.