Case study · Snohomish County, Washington

From zero to $100M in annual sales

How Mike Novak and his wife Rachel built a dominant real estate team in Washington State, with pay-per-click from Driven Leads running since his first week in the business.

9-year partnership$8M+ GCI generated79 deals in year one

Mike NovakThe Novak Team · client since 2017 Watch the full interview with Mike · YouTube

Overview

Executive Summary

In the competitive Snohomish County market, Mike and Rachel Novak built a team that averages $100 million in annual sales. More than $8M in GCI traces directly to leads Driven Leads generated over a nine-year partnership, at a cost per close that makes the math simple.

Mike NovakThe Novak Team · client since 2017

$8M+GCI from Driven Leads

79deals in year one

$1,200–$1,400average cost per close

~$20,000average commission per deal

9 yearspartnership and counting

1,600+past clients in the database

95%of personal business from referrals

$50K/moZillow and Realtor.com spend he walked away from

Figures as reported by the client in the recorded interview. Results vary by market.

The story

How It Happened

The challenge

Scaling Without Giving Up His Time

When Mike got his license he already knew, from years owning restaurants, that door knocking, cold calling and open houses do not scale. He wanted to trade money for time and buy lead sources that would keep working while he built a team.

"I didn't want to go sit open houses, door knock, circle dial. I thought, let's pay to play, let's buy back our time, and let's use scalable lead sources that are going to work really well."
Mike Novak

Week 1Connected with Nick and committed to one data-driven PPC strategy

Day oneChose Google Ads over door knocking

9 monthsThe minimum he tells agents to commit before judging PPC

The strategy

One Engine, Two Retargeting Layers

Google Ads is the primary engine, catching high-intent buyers at the start of their search. YouTube and Meta retarget everyone who clicked, so by 2020 prospects were arriving at appointments having already watched Mike's videos. Sisu tracks every lead to close on the back end.

"I like to catch people when they're top of funnel, they're just starting to browse. I want to customize that search for them and bring them lots of value through good systems like my video series."
Mike Novak

Google AdsPrimary engine. Scaling to $20K/month in 2026

YouTubeRetargeting and brand familiarity before the first call

MetaSupplementary retargeting for local omnipresence

SisuBack-end tracking. Customer #8 when it launched in 2019

The philosophy

Own the Top of the Funnel, Not a Portal Subscription

At his peak Mike was spending up to $50,000 a month on Zillow and Realtor.com. He exited both entirely and redirected that budget to Driven Leads, catching prospects before any portal could claim them and keeping 100% of the database.

"We've generated almost $8 million in GCI off leads that you generated for us. Our average cost per close has been in that $1,200 to $1,400 range, which is very profitable considering our average commission is about $20,000."
Mike Novak, on nine years of ROI

$50K/moPortal spend at peak, now zero

$20K/moGoogle Ads target with Driven Leads

100%Database ownership

The systems

Every Lead Tracked to the Close

If a lead closes 18 months after it came in, Mike attributes it back to the month it arrived, so every campaign shows its true long-term return. With that data he starts new campaigns, stops underperformers, sustains what works and scales proven winners.

"It takes that long to understand true ROI and build conversion skills."
Mike Novak, on the nine-month rule

1%of leads convert in the first 90 days

2.5%convert over 18 months

Start, stop, scaleThe decision loop run from the dashboard

Looking ahead

Leaner Team, Bigger Ad Budget

The Novak team has downsized from 20 agents to five elite producers, with a listing coordinator, two virtual assistants, a full-time assistant and a full-time media person. The 2026 plan scales Google Ads to $20K a month, keeps YouTube and Meta retargeting running, and keeps building a proprietary database with no portal dependency.

5Elite agents

1,600+Past clients in the database

Meet the NovaksYouTube channel for agent coaching

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