Level Up - From Agent to Entrepreneur

There are two kinds of real estate agents.  The average ones who thrive when the market’s good, and the ultimate agents who dominate no matter what’s going on the market.  While other agents complain about high interest rates and low inventory, the best agents maintain market share - in fact, they can even increase it in the toughest times.  These ultimate agents are defined by 13 non-negotiable s...

When it comes to building a solid listing-based business, most agents want to quickly get into expired and canceled listings. Here’s the problem: they go after these leads before they’ve built up the confidence and skills they need. This leads to mediocre results, a loss of confidence, and less income.  Instead of taking this approach, we coach our agents on a step-by-step process to build up to e...

Any real estate agent can become a listing machine in a very short space of time. Even if you’re new to the business, if you’ve been working with buyers your whole career, or you just want to multiply your listing inventory.  If you put the right pieces in place, you can build a solid listing-based business that can withstand all market conditions. The challenge is: a lot of what agents are taught...

In today’s real estate market, many agents are asking the same question: how do I get more leads, listings and increase my production?  Well, there are a lot of different ways to generate more listings right now. But before you dive into a strategy, you have to make sure it works for you, and that it’s a method you can do day in and day out.  Because here’s the thing: most activities, done consist...

Every day in real estate is a battle against distractions, shiny objects and unproductive activities. Accountability is one of the most powerful ways to combat these things and stay on the path of activities that lead to success.  The problem is: a lot of people don’t understand what accountability is. They think it’s a form of micromanaging or policing your activities. Accountability is really ju...

When interest rates rise, inventory wanes and working with buyers gets harder, real estate agents flock to listings. There are so many ways to generate seller leads, from direct mail to calling expireds, but those methods aren’t for everyone.  The most effective way for any agent to get leads would have to be online - ads in particular. But in order for this to work, there are some things we have...

When it comes to online buyer leads, generating a list of potential clients is the easy part. There is no shortage of lead sources and platforms that collect names. The hard part is converting those leads.  Between bad or incomplete information and low response rates, there are many factors that can tank the success of our efforts.  Now we might not be able to control everything, but plenty of age...

If you asked real estate agents what they spend the most money on, lead generation would be at the top of the list. The only problem is, when the conversion of those leads is low, it tanks our ROI and in turn, our profitability.  When agents struggle with conversion, they tend to blame the lack of return on the quality of the lead.  But my experience with different lead sources and platforms prove...

If you’re in the online lead gen game, you’ll notice that it’s gotten a lot harder lately.  It doesn’t matter what platform you’re using - deliverability has plummeted, open rates and replies have decreased, and more consumers are sending the dreaded opt-out message. As a result, the conversion ratio from online capture to connection has dropped drastically and the price-per-lead is going to skyro...

In today’s real estate market, many deals are being held up by listing agents who are scared to lose their clients. They know the price the seller is asking is too high, but they can’t tell them because they might get fired.  As the buyer’s agent, you can use this to your advantage, move the deal forward, and negotiate a lower price. The best part: the listing agent will love you because you’re sa...

In the aftermath of the NAR settlement, a lot of agents are panicking about and struggling with one area of the transaction: negotiation. There are a lot of agents who are worried that these new rules of compensation could be the reason the deal doesn’t work out. Reality isn’t that dramatic. We’ve dealt with deals falling apart over money before, and it’s not the end of the world. If we were able...

When it comes to online leads, everyone’s got an opinion, and most of them aren’t good. Many agents will tell you that online leads are dead - that they aren’t responsive or engaged, so what’s the point?  Well, here’s the truth about those so-called dead leads - they are just dead to you. Those so called disengaged and unresponsive leads do respond…just not to you.   There’s no such thing as a com...

In today's dynamic real estate landscape, the power of converting online buyer leads can’t be underestimated. The internet is one of the easiest ways to generate leads today, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t come without its challenges.  From incomplete and false contact details to unresponsive leads, so many factors can hamper the success of our online lead gen. The good news is, there are ways w...

If you double your appointments, you’ll double your income and double your commissions. -Greg Harrelson    Whether you're a seasoned agent or just starting in the business, anyone in real estate can benefit from increasing their commission revenue.  You don’t have to wait till a new year, you can double your income in just 90 days. Putting more deals under contract is easy if you take the right ac...

In order to be a listing machine, you need to have the endurance to do the activities every single day. -Greg Harrelson   If you’re struggling to generate a lot of listings, you might think there just aren’t enough of them in this market. That’s not true. All over the country, there are real agents who are generating tens of listings every single month - agents just like you. What’s their secret? ...

Ever since the NAR settlement happened, real estate agents can’t stop talking about and even panicking about it. So many people think buyer’s agents and their ability to earn money is in jeopardy.   I don’t think reality is quite so bleak. The fact of the matter is, a lot of the social media hype is nothing more than clickbait, designed to make you fearful, lose focus and ultimately lose money.  ...

The NAR settlement has a lot of people worried about the future, and what it means for the jobs and even the existence of buyer’s agents. The truth is, we are where we are and we can’t change that.   Instead of focusing on the chatter, and getting sucked into the vortex of negativity, we need to ignore the noise, remain productive and focus on value.   Here’s the thing: people don’t mind compensat...

The secret to building an extraordinary real estate business isn’t as complicated as so many people make it out to be. In fact, the most successful agents keep things really simple.   The secret is all about following a routine that lets you take advantage of your momentum. Instead of trying to execute on difficult things, there are 9 simple things that will lead to massive success in this busines...

If you’re worried about the real estate market changing, I have bad news. The change has already happened. No matter where you are, there’s no doubt that the market has softened.   There’s less properties on the market, less buyers, higher interest rates, more people sitting on the fence and ultimately, less sales.   Navigating the ever-changing real estate landscape requires adaptability and stra...

In real estate, it’s really easy to start the year with motivation and drive. The challenge is maintaining the momentum and keeping your foot on the gas pedal when the going gets rough.   With everything going on in the market, interest rates and the NAR settlement, it often feels like you’re up against a headwind. We have to put systems in place to make sure we keep generating leads and listings....

Many real estate agents start the day with the intention to get a lot done. Unfortunately, they still find themselves with a ton of tasks to do by the end of the day. From lead generation and follow up, there are things we need to do to ensure our success.   Getting more production out of our day isn’t difficult - it’s all about doing a few critical things before noon.   How do we set clear intent...

The future of the real estate industry is in flux right now. Due to recent lawsuits, the buyer side of transactions has an uncertain future. That means listing appointments are more important than ever.   Listings are the easiest way to secure your future in the industry. In order to get more listing appointments, there are 3 things we have to know about the conversations we’ll be having.   What a...

There’s a race going on in the industry right now - the race to build an engaged database. The agents with the biggest and most engaged databases will be able to dominate their local markets and gain 20% of the market share in just 12 months.   This isn’t about building a database for the sake of having thousands of names saved. It’s about building a database that will drive more business.   What...

Whether we like it or not, we all exist online. The problem with most real estate agents is, when you Google them, all you find are incomplete profiles. This is what the consumer sees when they search for you, and it might make them question if you’re even still in the business.   How do we make sure our online presence doesn’t work against us? In this episode, I talk about the importance of compl...

In this market, selling 3 listings in just 5 days seems highly unlikely, but that’s exactly what one of my agents did.   And he’s only been licensed for 5 months!   When it comes to getting and closing more listings, you really don’t have to figure out how to do it. It’s already been figured out - all you need to do is commit to the process and do it consistently.   What are the things this agent...