In the competitive Southlake, TX real estate market, the days of relying solely on cold calls and mailers are over. Buyers and sellers are conducting their own research online, forming opinions, and then deciding which agent to contact. This shift is why Justin Nimergood, leader of the Top Gun Team at Epique Realty, has made building a media presence a requirement for his agents.
Nimergood has witnessed the power of this approach firsthand. His own growing social media presence recently led to an inbound message from a former college roommate who is now joining the team. This wasn't a paid lead or a cold call result; it was the outcome of consistent, authentic content that prompted someone to reach out on their own terms.
The modern real estate consumer is educated and informed. They don't want to be sold to; they want to find you. As Nimergood puts it, "The new consumer of real estate is well educated and well informed, and they will find you. They don’t want to be found; they want to find you." This changes the purpose of marketing from interrupting to attracting. A media presence allows prospective clients to do their due diligence at their own pace, building trust before they ever make contact.
A common misconception is that a media presence requires viral stunts or elaborate production. Nimergood dispels this: "You don’t need to be doing TikTok dances and jumping out from behind pot plants." The bar is simpler: be consistent and be an educator. An agent who regularly shares useful, local information builds more trust than one who tries to go viral once and disappears. This approach is also sustainable long-term, as short, informative videos about market trends or buyer mistakes require minimal effort but yield substantial relationship-building value.
A media presence serves dual purposes for a team leader. On the client side, it shortens the sales cycle by pre-establishing credibility. A buyer or seller who has followed an agent's content feels comfortable before the first conversation. On the recruiting side, it attracts agents who evaluate team culture through the leader's public persona. A recruit who sees a team leader consistently adding value on camera gains a clearer picture of the team's ethos than one reading a slide deck.
Time constraints are the most common objection to building a media presence. To address this, the Top Gun Team offers a "Podcast in a Box" program that handles production, editing, and publishing, requiring only that the agent shows up and talks about what they know. Agents interested in this support can learn more on the team's About page.
In 2026, a media presence is no longer optional for serious agents in Southlake and the broader Dallas-Fort Worth area. It is one of the clearest ways to be found by the buyers, sellers, and future teammates who are already looking.
