From 10 Agents To 400: Scaling A Real Estate Brokerage With Josh Marzucco

BL Josh Marzucco | Real Estate Brokerage

Josh Marzucco started a real estate brokerage called Marzucco Real Estate without even being a licensed broker. He used his resourcefulness and network connections to scale the brokerage he started. Now, Marzucco Real Estate is one of the most prominent real estate firms in Southwest Florida. Join Stefanie Peters as she talks to Josh Marzucco about how he scaled his business to the top. Learn how being in the bar business helped Josh get into real estate. Find out why he enjoys being a broker over being a real estate agent. Discover why building relationships is key to not just real estate but everything. Start scaling your business today!

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From 10 Agents To 400: Scaling A Real Estate Brokerage With Josh Marzucco

I am excited to be here with my co-host, Ben Peters and an incredible guest whose backstory is mind-blowing. Let me get right into it. This guy started in the bar business with his dad. We all love the family business, and he was rocking it out. I don’t even know how he transitioned into the real estate arena. I’m sure we will get into that.

He started with a 700-square-foot office space and one other agent. Fast forward five years, Marzucco Real Estate holds over 400 agents with four office locations throughout the state of Florida, selling over $900 million in sales and has grown to one of the most prominent real estate firms in Southwest Florida.

Josh, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to connect with Ben and me and hearing your backstory and where you came from. As I read through your bio, the one thing that resonated with me is you hear these stories where people exploded with growth, which you did, but the type of sacrifice you had to make in order to get to where you are now. Let’s open it up and get right into it. Thanks so much for being here.

I appreciate it. Thank you both for having me. I’m excited to get into it.

Let’s start with your story. What is interesting is you started in the bar scene with your dad. How did you make that transition? Let’s start there.

BL Josh Marzucco | Real Estate Brokerage

My dad owned a bar in Pennsylvania with his dad in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. I sold it in the mid-‘80s and came to Florida. He always said he was going to do another sports bar. He was in the painting contracting business prior to 2008. As we all know what happened in ‘07 and ‘08, the market took a dump. We took a chance, and that local sports bar went out of business. We opened Zookie’s Sports Pub & Grill. Zookie is a nickname for my last name. Everyone called my grandfather that. It’s time to open a business. Things were folding. A lot of businesses were shutting down, but we took a chance, and it took off. Three years after that, we opened a second location, and that one did well.

Out of the blue, one day, another local bar owner made us an offer on the second location. We sold it, but it was a lot doing too. The bar business, if you guys have ever worked in a restaurant or bar, it’s an extremely tough business, long hours, you got to be there. The way we ran it, we’ve never had a manager. It was always my dad or me. I am not physically helping out as much anymore. I do the books and the payroll. My dad is there seven days a week. He might have been out of town 4 or 5 times in 15 years. He’s a workaholic. People know him in the town of Naples. They know he’s at Zookie’s seven days a week, eats, sleeps, and breathes the bar business.

Once the bar took off, we got back into building and flipping houses. We were doing that on the side. My uncles are general contractors. We were using their license to do the remodels and do the flips and stuff like that. My dad kept saying, “You need to get your real estate license.” I’m like, “I don’t want to be a realtor.” He’s like, “We need to keep this commission in-house. We don’t need to be waiting on realtors to go searching for us for flips and stuff like that.”

In 2014, I signed up for the class and took the test. I waited almost a year. It almost expired because I still didn’t want to do it. Somewhere in 2015, I got licensed and hung my license with an awesome brokerage. They were 100%. It took off. Being born and raised in Naples, I got a lot of my first deals right out of the bar. People do business with agents that they know, like, and trust. I built that rapport with them in the bar business for many years. At least my first twenty transactions came right from the restaurant. I ran with it and said, “I need to get into the retail side of this and brand it and market myself.”

Here’s a question. In terms of the bar, what skills did you learn in the bar business that translated to real estate, and which one do you like better now?

I love the bar business. I love people and day-to-day operations. I didn’t like the customers always being in your business. The regulars come in 6, 7 days a week, and they always are prying in your personal. I did not enjoy that, but the people skills, thinking quickly on your feet, and learning to talk on your feet helped me out in real estate tremendously, and the ability to create those relationships and connections.

BL Josh Marzucco | Real Estate Brokerage

Real Estate Brokerage: If you've worked in a bar, you have the ability to make connections, learn people skills, and really think on your feet. All of those skills can help you a lot in real estate.

I told my oldest daughter, who is already working at Zookie’s, “Any person that wants to be in sales or some type of relationship-driven business needs to work in a restaurant at some point in their life.” It’s situational awareness. You’re dealing with crabby customers, and that relates to crabby real estate customers and people with attitudes and complaining. You learn to think quickly on your feet on how to deal with it. That was a skill that I’ll forever take with me in other aspects of life. By far, I like the real estate business better. It’s challenging and stressful at times, the hours of the bar business and dealing with drunks. It just never gets old.

When Ben and I were growing up, I was like, “Dad, it was so fun to own a restaurant.” He says, “Heck no, kid. Go into something where you build up people skills.” That’s a business that you can never shut off. Real estate is the same thing. You can’t shut off, but it’s not like you have to have employees. You can sidestep a lot of the crazy of regular brick and mortar business if you want to. That’s a whole other beast.

Everyone thinks owning a bar is like all fun and games and parties. There are owners that do that, but our number one family rule is no family drinks in the bar. There’s never any taking shots at the end of the night or drinking with the customers. We’ll let our bartenders do it and buy him a shot, but any family is not allowed to drink in the bar.

Do you think your dad’s going to work there until he dies?

Yes, 100%. He’s been tossing around selling this location. He has beaten down his door because now North Naples is exploding where our restaurant is. He’s worn out. It’s taken a toll on him. He beat prostate cancer a few years ago and was working four weeks after he had his prostate removed. It’s totally against the doctor’s orders. He’ll die in the bar. My grandpa was the same way. My grandpa worked until he physically couldn’t work.

It runs in the family.

That’s one of the things that was instilled in me. A lot of my dad’s side of the family is not educated, never went to college, and stuff like that. My uncles are successful entrepreneurs, and they barely finished high school. They instilled in us all, even my cousins, “You go to work seven days a week and save your money.”

I don’t mean to put you in a bucket, but it doesn’t sound like you’re the typical Naples person as far as a spade. A lot of guys in the real estate arena, especially in Naples, at least in my experience, are very ego-driven. It seems like you’re very humble and works hard. It’s like there’s no BS here. It’s just what it is. That’s refreshing. Tell me about that.

I did not grow up your typical Naples kid, and I don’t get along with the typical Naples crowd. I grew up in a part of Naples called Golden Gate. I don’t know if you’re too familiar with it. After my parents divorced, I lived with my dad since I was seven. He lost his business in the divorce. He was a painter and ended up working at the little Catholic school that we went to. He ended up being the janitor there so we could get benefits and free tuition. He was broke and lost the house.

We ended up living in the master bedroom of a Dominican family’s home for around ten years. We rented from them. The house was small, to begin with, but we lived in the master bedroom. We turned it into an efficiency apartment and lived that way for ten years until he got back on his feet. He drove cars that you wouldn’t even think were roadworthy. He worked at the church in the school full-time. He painted houses and pressure cleaned at night. He had a booth at the flea market on the weekends. He would refinish furniture or go garbage picking during the week and sell it at the flea market on the weekend. We did it for as long as we had to.

Do you think that’s contributed to your success at all, just seeing that and growing up with that?

I grew up with nothing. I grew up in a wealthy town, and we were fortunate to go to a private Catholic school because my dad worked there. All the kids and families had money. I got picked on for my clothes and the uniform off-color because we had well water and the cars my parents drove. I had nothing growing up. That’s why I don’t care. I’ll take risks and chances. Even when I got my real estate license, my dad pushed me to get my real estate license. When I got it, he was fearful that I was going to leave the bar business. He’s like, “You’ll be lucky if you ever sell one home. That motivated the crap out of me.”

He’s my biggest fan, but he also can be your biggest critic in a loving way. He’ll push you. As far as success growing like that, I take risk. I’m not afraid to lose it. I don’t know what’s going to happen. We have 400 agents now. We’re working on our fifth office. A few months from now, it could be different. If it happens, I’ll start over and start something else.

Let’s talk about real estate more. You said you got your real estate license started at 100% brokerage. I used to be at 100% brokerage. What appealed to you about that? When did you make the transition to your being your own broker?

I had a great friend of my dad when I got my license. Her name’s April Keating. She’s with MVP Realty here in Naples. She’s a top producer and sells 50 to 100 homes a year. She was my mentor starting out. She was with Florida Home Realty. I went and joined her because she was helping me out on my first few deals. I learned a tremendous amount from her. I’m grateful to have April as a mentor. A year and a half to two years into it, I was 1 of the top 5 agents out of 300 agents at the brokerage. We got invited to dinner one night at Shula’s Steak House. April was there, and the top ten producers were there. We thought we were getting a bonus or an award or something. We’re at Shula’s, and all of a sudden here comes all these people in suits with our brokers.

They’re like, “We merged with Better Homes and Gardens Franchise.” We’re like, “What?” They’re like, “Your commission split is going from 100% to 75/25 or 80/20 overnight.” We’re all sitting there like, “We’ve never taken the lead from you guys. We solely hang our license here. It’s been great. It’s 100%.” A lot of us left. They’re the two greatest brokers in the world, but they lost 100 to 200 people in a few months. I had recruited friends and acquaintances to join, and they were looking at me. I knew it was going to happen, and nobody had any idea of this.

They were pressuring me to start my own brokerage. I’m like, “I’m not even a broker. How am I going to start my own brokerage?” I figured it out. I hired my friend. My best friend’s mom had held a broker’s license for 30 years in Naples and was retired and not using it. I started my LLC, started my own company, made her the managing broker, had her name on the door, and did that for about nine months until I was eligible to get my broker’s license. I started with one agent, Jesse Logan. He’s still with us until this day. He was my very first agent to join. Now he’s an equity partner. We had that office in an industrial park. 1 agent turned into 3, and 3 turned into 10, and it kept growing.

Talk about resourcefulness. To me, it’s so cool how you can have the same situation with someone that’s entrepreneurial-minded and then someone that’s 9:00 to 5:00-minded, and they get thrown in the same fire. One lays down and dies, and the other one decides, “I’m going to figure it out.” What I think is cool is that it didn’t even stop you from starting a brokerage when you didn’t even have your brokerage license. Talk about thinking outside the box.

I knew I had to make a transition, but we all left that one company and went to another 100% company. I was recruiting a lot of agents from the first company. I had a leg up because I was born and raised here. We had the bar, and I played a ton of sports. My family owns a big construction company. Naturally, agents were reaching out to me as to where to join when they got their licenses. I was like, “I need to do this. It’s either now or never.” I went and leased the little office and took it one step at a time.

Was there a time from when you started the brokerage to now that you second-guessed starting your own brokerage? Has it just been smooth sailing where it’s been one foot in front of the other and things lined up?

It’s a lot of second-guessing. I gave up selling to be the managing broker and to be the owner of the company. The liability is where it’s all at. When I got my first lawsuit for something I had nothing to do with, but you know that the brokerage gets sued, one of my agents, who we had no knowledge of this, was spamming 3,000 text messages a month. As you guys know, it’s against the TCPA Act. I’m sitting in that little office one day and see a service worker come with a badge on and are like, “You’ve been served with a class action lawsuit.” It was terrible.

When you’re the owner of a brokerage, the liability is where it’s all at.

If you want to talk about second-guessing, that is second-guessing. I didn’t sleep for about three weeks. I ended up being nothing. I fought it and proved that I had nothing to do with it. We didn’t beat it. I had to settle, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It’s part of the game, and it is something you have to deal with as the broker-owner. There was quite a bit of second-guessing.

Even one of my business mentors told me early on in the game, “Stef, if you haven’t gotten sued, you’re not playing a big enough game.”

We’ve had a few small ones since then, but now, no sweat off my back. You just lawyer up and do what you do.

What do you like about being a broker versus selling real estate?

We’re 100% commission brokerage. Like I said, I know a lot of people. If I give an agent a lead, I split it with them 50/50, my personal leads. I love the training, mentoring, recruiting, and building them. I love social media, as you guys can tell. I love taking new agents that have never made a deal, or maybe they were with another brokerage and switched to us. I thrive on getting them to their first deal or their first 2 or 3 deals and watching them take off.

I have two girls full-time, and I’m a single dad. As the brokerage grew, I realized that if I still continued to grow my real estate business, I would be running around on showings and doing open houses on the weekends. I was a busy agent, and I’m busy with my leads, but I’m fortunate enough to dish them off to somebody and let them do the legwork with me overseeing it, and I still get a little bit of a payday at the end.

As my girls got older, I realized that soccer, boating on the weekends, and doing their extracurricular activities were more important than doing open houses and running around and doing showings. I am giving up a hefty chunk of change by doing that. I did the math over the years on the leads that I’ve given, and I left a lot on the table. I’m fortunate enough to have that time with my kids. It’s a push and shove, but I would rather be the broker and operate the company the way that I am.

As you get older, you’ll realize that spending time with your kids is more important than doing open houses and showings.

Where do you see your business going long-term?

My goal was 100 agents. Starting out, I thought having 100 agents would be amazing. We hit that ceiling quickly, and now we’re at over 400. My long-term goal is 1,000, maybe not many more brick and mortar offices. We do a strong demographic study with 100% brokerages in an area before we go in. I have my content guy here and my digital creator here. We’ve been leaning towards doing something more digital down the road to offer both realms of the business. Our agents love coming into the brick and mortar spots. A lot of brokerages are getting away from that because of the overhead.

COVID had a lot to do with it. A lot of brokerages went digital. I can assure you I’ll have 30 agents in my office now, just in the Naples office, coming in, getting help, and collaborating with other agents. The brick and mortar are still necessary for certain areas, but we plan to go digital me and my equity partners, while being 100% and having a small monthly tech fee and a transaction fee. Unless my research is wrong, there are not two brokerages that are true 100% commission companies. Brokerages claim they’re 100% after a massive cap out, but we are a true 100% commission brokerage from day one.

Are you hoping to go national?

That’s the plan. That’s the end goal, my five-year goal. I have many agents through social media reaching out to us from others, asking if we have a location in their state or if we could open up because of our branding and structure. I love to say it’s our model and our commission, the help that we offer as a company and the training. At the end of the day, I have a girl that makes damn near $1 million a year in commission. If I asked her for 30% of her commission, she’d tell me to kick rocks. Agents love keeping 100% of their commission while getting all the help and support that we offer.

You said a word multiple times, and it’s in real estate. Sometimes, it seems like a dirty word, which is recruiting. Tell me your philosophy when it comes to recruiting. As a top-producing agent, I’m getting recruited all the time. I don’t mind if some people are like, “Recruiting is the worst. Why does that company do it?” and stuff like that. Speak to your philosophy on recruiting.

We’re not good at it. We need to get a lot better at it as far as targeting the new agents right out of real estate school. I’m sure you got blown up with text messages and emails. I’m getting text messages and emails as the owner. I got a first-class mail letter, and I was super impressed. It was a personal message from the CEO of RE/MAX. He signed a letter and sent an iPad. When you open the iPad, it’s him talking a personal message saying how we’ve made waves in our area, and we’ve been on their radar, and they would like to talk further about acquiring us, which was flattering.

It’s not something I’m interested in, but as far as recruiting, that was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. We’re not that high-tech yet. We message agents here and there from a digital platform. A lot of our recruiting is word of mouth and branding on social media. I’d get 10 to 20 agents a week that reach out to me through social media, asking more questions about the brokerage and the structure.

BL Josh Marzucco | Real Estate Brokerage

Real Estate Brokerage: As a brokerage, it's best to recruit through word of mouth or branding on social media. You can get about 10 to 20 agents a week that reach out to you about your brokerage.

We need to get better at recruiting, such as the recruiting text messages and the round-robin emails and stuff like that. My top producers get recruited all day, and we’ve lost a few of them. Some were offered significant bonuses from other companies to sign on. Sometimes you can’t keep them. If an agent slows down a little bit and someone’s dangling that check in front of their face, it’s easy to take it.

You’re starting to see that from larger brokerages now, “Come over here. We’ll give you an initial check of an X dollar amount.” It varies and whatnot, but that’s the first time I’ve seen it. I’ve had my license since 2015, like you. In the last few years, you’re starting to see that.

It’s happening more. I’m not going to name any names. You can check into the national brokerages where it’s backfired on. They way overpaid, the market pulled back, and they don’t have that revenue stream coming in like it used to. A lot of these agents have paid to join nationally. On a large scale level, it backfired.

BL Josh Marzucco | Real Estate Brokerage

Real Estate Brokerage: There are not too many national brokerages that are 100% commission. A lot of them claim that they are after a massive cap out. But Marzucco Real Estate is a true 100% commission brokerage from day one.

It seems you have an authentic heart to help agents win. You’re very much, “What you see is what you get.” That’s honestly refreshing in a market where you see all this hype, crazy, and all these dangled carrots. A lot of us are over it, and we’re like, “Give me the real deal. Don’t waste my time.” In a lot of capacities, that type of model can’t scale quite well. You’ve done well. I wouldn’t say thats not scaled with what you’ve done within five years.

You think you need to give yourself credit and say, “It is what it is.” Can we always up-level? One thousand percent. What you’re doing is working. Here’s the only time that I paid for leads, and it wasn’t for me. It was for one of the agents on my team. Word-of-mouth referral 1,000% is where it’s at because good people know good people.

I appreciate that, and I agree.

I’m curious to know. If someone asked you to do a TED Talk, what would the topic of the TED Talk be and why? You’ve mastered a lot of aspects of Business 101, and taking it to that next point, what would you say would be that thing that you bring to the table for your agents? What would be that ultimate TED Talk?

I would have to say being an authentic person and entrepreneur. Just because you’re passionate about something and want to start a company or start a business doesn’t mean it makes money. I love flipping exotic cars and boats and stuff. That’s my passion, and I would love to do that full-time for a living, but I don’t know how to make money. I either lose money every time I sell something or break even. I would love to talk about how to help a young entrepreneur or someone start a new business in the ups and downs of it and also the psychiatric part of it on how to deal with all the downs and setbacks.

Just because you’re passionate about something doesn’t mean you can just start a company and make money.

A good friend of mine is the CEO of Pyure Brands, the organic Stevia company. We’re getting ready to team up together to help young entrepreneurs deal with the psychological aspect. By no means are we qualified to give people medical advice, but talk about the real deal events, how to deal with it, and when you’re lying in bed at 3:00 in the morning and worried about how you’re going to pay your bills for that month when the only person you can count on is yourself. You have no coming in from a company. I’m passionate about that, and I would do a TED Talk on that.

Ben, are there any other questions you want to ask him before I go into the lightning round with the lady boss and then we’ll finish up with my last three questions?

Here’s one of the things for me. There are people reading this are agents, people thinking about getting into real estate investors, and that kind of thing. You’ve had your license just as long as I have. Where do you see this market going? If you read the headlines now, you would think, “Get out of real.” We want to spread the good news, but I would love to hear your thoughts on where you think the real estate market is.

I’m always a positive person. I want to push the market as anybody. It all depends on the area of the country you’re selling it. We are super blessed to be in Southwest Florida. We have the beaches, restaurants, fine dining, and all the attractions. We got hit by the worst hurricane in Bonita. The beachfront of Naples got crushed as well. I’m a little bit more inland, so I was fine, and everyone I know is fine, but it’s always going to come back stronger in our area.

In some parts of the country, when they take a dip, they don’t always come back as fast. If you’re getting into it, do your market or trend study of the area you’re going to work in. The interest rates will pull back eventually. We’ll see what happens with upcoming in the presidential race. That’s going to have a tremendous amount to do with it. I’m big on having a plan B. If you’re going to get into real estate or everyone wants to be a house flipper and a wholesaler, you better have a plan B or a steady income while you’re doing that so you can float yourself in the meantime.

We’re all about multiple streams of income. Me and Stef were into investment properties and all that kind of stuff, so you’re speaking our language.

Our dad taught us to have those multiple streams of residual income in case one dries up. You’ve got a couple of others to choose from and digging your well before you’re thirsty. That’s so important. I love that. Thank you for sharing. We’re going to do this quick round. You have to share quickly. We don’t have to go long-winded on it. Let me start from the top. People would be surprised that you spend so much time doing what?

Practicing golf. I get addicted to golf.

Building Relationships That Last a Lifetime: The NIA Way

Chipotle or Chick-fil-A?

I have to say Chipotle.

Your favorite way to spend downtime.

With my daughters, 100%.

What are you absolutely addicted to?

Celsius energy drink. I’m down at about 3 or 4 of those a day.

It’s a healthy energy drink. I like it.

That’s what they say. That’s how they market it.

What are you reading now?

Currently nothing. I’m learning to play the guitar. I guess I’m reading a beginner’s guitar book, but the last book I read, I forget the name of it. My friend’s dad wrote it. He was a successful entrepreneur. That was the last book I read. It was called Building Relationships That Last A Lifetime.

Best piece of advice you have ever received.

Sell your relationship. My Uncle Joe told me that when I got my real estate license. He’s a successful builder here in Naples. The day I got my real estate license, he goes, “You don’t ever have to sell one home.” He goes, “Sell yourself. Sell that relationship.”

Start selling that relationship. You don’t ever have to sell one home, you just need to sell yourself.

That’s great advice. Most embarrassing moment?

That’s a tough one. I went off the high dive in middle school. I was a fat kid in middle school. I was super chunky. I was already embarrassed, to begin with, to be at the high dive. My swimming trunks came down, and everybody saw it when I hit the water. That stuck with me for quite a few years after that.

That sounds like a therapy session right there.

 It was for a few years.

Which would be harder to give up, coffee or chocolate?

Coffee.

Describe yourself in one word.

Outgoing.

If you were a superhero, who would you be and why?

It’s probably Superman because he can fly. I travel all the time, terrified of airplanes and takeoff, but at the same time, I’m so fascinated by airplanes and flying. I love it, but I get anxious at takeoff, and I’m gripped onto the hand rests. You wouldn’t believe it. It’s Superman because he can fly.

You never have to go through security and don’t have to worry about baggage. I agree with you.

We’re done with that. I’m going to end with my last three questions. Josh, if someone met you and said, “I truly want to become the boss of my own life and call the shots. What’s my first step?”

It’s doing what you say you’re going to do. Don’t hesitate. Put it into motion. Don’t procrastinate. Go do it.

What is your definition of a boss?

Someone that has leadership skills and someone that’s not afraid to own a room. You’ve got to have some empathy, and sometimes not have empathy. You’ve got to have that business mindset. I learned that from my dad in the bar business. It helped me transition into my own business because people try to take advantage of you. You’ve got to have empathy at times and use your discretion, but you also got to know when to put your foot down.

Any last words of wisdom?

I love helping entrepreneurs. I love giving people advice. A lot of people, even Jamie here, my content guy, is like, “You need to start charging for that. You need to start having coaching calls.” I like helping people and words of wisdom. Pay it forward. Don’t be afraid to help someone because good karma will come back to you. Many people are standoffish and are not willing to help people because they want something out of it. Don’t always try to get something out of it just to help someone.

Josh, we so appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to connect with us. Where can people find and connect with you? We want to be able to know how we can get ahold of Josh.

I’m always on Instagram. If you search my name Josh Marzucco, my tag is @The_Realist_Broker. We have a decent presence on Facebook but not really on TikTok. My kids and Jamie made me a TikTok. I’m not that good at it yet, so mainly Instagram is our biggest platform.

Thank you so much, Josh. Thanks for hanging out on the show.

I appreciate it. I had a great time. Thank you.

Thanks so much, guys, for reading. We’re excited for you to fire your fear, build your faith, and become the boss of your own life. Let’s get after it, guys.

 

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About Josh Marzucco

Three years ago, Josh Marzucco laid the groundwork for the success he has experienced by launching his own real estate agency, Marzucco Real Estate LLC. Many years before his full involvement in the real estate market, Josh co-owned a sports bar restaurant with his father. Operating in Naples, Florida, the city in which he has spent his entire life, Josh had made numerous connections over the years both personally and through his business. Being so heavily involved in the community and interacting with so many people at the restaurant over the years, Josh had developed strong personal skills and a vast network of individuals. Together the two of them spent time flipping properties, making renovations, and building homes in the area while becoming familiar with the real estate market.

The success of his initial efforts on the market had begun to create significant interest, so much so, that Josh realized he had built enough of a foundation to start his own brokerage. He soon did so, starting small with just a 700 sq ft. office space and one other agent. Almost 5 years later, Marzucco Real Estate holds over 400 agents with 4 office locations throughout the state of Florida selling over $900 million in sales and has grown to one of the more prominent real estate firms in the Southwest Florida area.

Throughout these years, Josh continued down a path of self-development as he searched for more ways to make his business profitable. A major factor in this effort was his close friend and mentor Tom Steffanci, president of Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits. With his guidance, Josh was able to continually achieve growth and realize profitability to a great degree.

Josh attributes much of his organization's early success to his approach as a business owner and a non-competing broker. The idea and potential of collective and personal success attracted many brokers to the agency initially and continues to play a major part in its development. Josh has personally understood the amount of sacrifice required for growth and establishes that fact as a major element of his success.