From NFL Linebacker to Licensed Agent: Zac Diles Tackles California Real Estate

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When your work experience consists of colliding with 300-pound linemen, real estate sales might not sound like the next logical step. However, the NFL does offer lessons beyond the huddle. Just ask Zac Diles, a 6-foot, 245-pound former linebacker who traded in his jersey for a real estate license last year.

But … why real estate?

“I can relate,” Diles says. “When I was in the NFL, I moved around a lot. I got to see the cost of living in other states.”

He wasn’t kidding about the moving around: Diles suited up for five different teams over the course of his eight-year career in the league.

And it turns out the NFL’s training does translate well to real estate, even if Diles can’t simply tackle a rival agent or unreasonable seller.

“The NFL teaches you accountability, dealing with people’s livelihoods, being your own entity. In real estate, you have to be accountable for what you do with people’s assets, their livelihoods.”

He certainly understands the anguish associated with renting and moving. Bouncing from the Houston Texans to the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns—with assorted stops along the way—meant a lot of renting and short-term living arrangements.

Drafted by the Texans in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL draft, Diles was interested in real estate early in his career. His interest was piqued by wealthy teammates showing him the luxe side of real estate. He’d visit fellow players’ homes—mansions, in many cases—and take in the different architectural elements. The details of the houses he saw “fascinated” him, he says.

With everyone around him buying and selling property, it was an easy decision for Diles to launch his real estate career. He didn’t waste time, either. During his final NFL season with the Browns in 2014, he took real estate classes in his spare time and acquired his license in March 2015. Earlier this month, he signed with Rodeo Realty in Los Angeles.

His first couple of transactions involved football players. Among them were a $4.3 million sale in Encino with Browns cornerback Joe Haden, and a lease-to-own agreement for a $2.4 million pad for Los Angeles Rams guard Rodger Saffold. Currently he’s primarily a buyer’s agent and works in the West Hollywood and Thousand Oaks areas, although he says he’s looking to get into selling as well.

And as of right now, Diles says he doesn’t need the money. He’s doing it for the love of the (real estate) game.

“I don’t have to be doing this; I enjoy doing this. Will I get paid? Yes, but I enjoy helping other people,” Diles says.

Aside from the advantage his NFL connections provide, he says starting out “wasn’t easy,” and he made it a habit to cold call for leads and attend open houses. Whatever hurdles lurk in the real estate business, the 31-year-old is confident he’ll succeed.

“I’ve been through it all, broken bones and being cut from NFL teams. I’ve done a job for eight years that only 1,500 people in the world do; I’ve got thick skin. There’s not much that can surprise me.”

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