Joe Vairo is an ironman in many ways.
Courtesy Joe Vairo
Joe Vairo’s first big real estate client did not come from a cold call, door knock or glossy mailer. The buyer found him through a social media video and soon purchased a roughly $2.5 million home in cash.
“I am all in on this,” Vairo remembers thinking. “This is so much better than cold calls and door knocking.”
The deal confirmed that his unconventional strategy could work. Today, the Vairo Group founder has cultivated 50,000-plus Instagram followers across his @livinginfortlauderdalefl and @thevairogroup accounts, alongside another 50,000-plus followers on TikTok.
His videos go far beyond listings. Vairo tours new parks, breaks down South Florida neighborhoods, visits restaurants and shows viewers what various budgets can buy from Fort Lauderdale to Boca Raton. The result is a hyperlocal and friendly feed that doubles as a real estate resource and running guide to life in the region.
Vairo’s Broward roots run deep. He grew up in Coral Springs, frequented Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach and attended Cardinal Gibbons before transferring to Westminster Academy. Football later took him to Randolph-Macon College in Virginia and Troy University in Alabama, where he walked on, climbed the depth chart and traveled with the team during his senior year.
After graduating in 2019, he landed a job only to be laid off within 90 days. Vairo began selling household items on eBay, eventually filling his parents’ home with so much inventory that they told him to find a warehouse or another venture.
Well, real estate with eXp Realty won that discussion. His mother already held a real estate license, while his eBay experiment had taught him digital marketing. Vairo initially tried traditional prospecting before committing to one video daily. Within 30 days, his future multimillion-dollar buyer commented.
Vairo now specializes in waterfront properties, second and third homes and new-development condos. His clients often arrive from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles, sometimes with outdated ideas about South Florida pricing.
His current market assessment separates the region into three segments: condos, homes east of Interstate 95 and homes west of it. Older coastal condos continue wrestling with assessments, he says, while some sellers east of I-95 remain attached to pandemic-era asking prices. Out west, buyers can often secure larger homes and lower insurance costs.
“Those times are well over,” Vairo says of sellers expecting out-of-state buyers to pay above asking without hesitation.
Still, transactions alone do not drive his work. Vairo has advised some clients to keep their homes or rent instead of buying, even when doing so meant losing a commission.
“We want our family to help your family,” he says.
When he steps away from real estate, Vairo boats, plays flag football three days weekly and trains for endurance races. He completed his first full Ironman in May and – amid his daily sprints across the region – is now preparing for yet another race.
