Seeking the Best - The Real Estate Agent Podcast

Real estate agents love to say open houses do not work. But most of the time, the open house was not actually the problem. In this episode of Seeking the Best, Kathryn Stelljes and Patrick Fatica continue the lead-generation season with a deep dive into open houses: why agents avoid them, why they feel awkward, why one quiet Sunday can convince you the whole lead source is broken, and what actuall...

Most real estate agents know they should be working their sphere. So why do so many agents avoid it? In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn Stelljes and Patrick Fatica open the new lead-generation season with the lead source most agents already have in front of them: their sphere of influence. But this is not just a conversation about scripts, databases, or how many calls you should make....

In this season finale, Kathryn looks back on this season at the biggest lessons she learned the hard way in real estate — the ones that shaped her confidence, communication, systems, leadership, and boundaries. From spending money on Zillow leads without the follow-up plan to match, to disqualifying herself from opportunities before anyone else had the chance, to learning why important conversatio...

Most agents do not only struggle with lead generation because they do not know what to do. Sometimes they struggle because they have already decided who will not hire them. In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn shares a few early-career lessons she learned the hard way: skipping million-dollar FSBOs because she did not think she belonged in those rooms, parking away from listing appointme...

What does it really mean to go above and beyond for a real estate client? In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn shares the story of one of her earliest listings, when she agreed to water a seller’s plants at a vacant property and slowly realized she had crossed a line she did not even know existed yet. That story opens up a much bigger conversation about the things real estate agents ofte...

In real estate, there is a big difference between building leverage and accidentally giving away the business you worked so hard to build. In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn shares a lesson she learned the hard way while trying to grow her real estate business and hire her first buyer’s agent. What seemed like the right move at the time eventually revealed a much bigger business lesson...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn shares two real estate lessons she learned the hard way: one involving a buyer who suddenly wanted her to pay a referral fee to someone who had not been involved, and another involving buyers who left to work with another agent after Kathryn had already helped them find the house. The real lesson was not just about referral fees, procuring cause, or b...

Building a real estate team sounds exciting — until you realize hiring people creates an entirely new job you were never trained for. In this episode of Seeking the Best, Kathryn shares the leadership patterns and hiring mistakes she kept repeating for years while trying to grow her business. From hiring part-time help that didn’t work, to keeping the wrong people too long, to believing she could...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn shares a story from earlier in her real estate career that completely changed how she thinks about boundaries, expectations, and protecting her personal life. What started as a client request slowly turned into a much bigger realization about client behavior, accessibility, and the dangerous habit many agents fall into without even realizing it. Using...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn shares a moment from her real estate career that completely shifted how she communicates with clients. It starts with a situation that felt urgent—and a decision that seemed reasonable in the moment. But what followed revealed something deeper about communication, expectations, and the role agents play when things don’t go as planned. From there, Kath...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn shares a real story that will hit home for so many real estate agents—the moment you realize you’re doing someone else’s job… again. It’s a holiday weekend. The team leaves on time. Everything  looks  fine on the surface. But behind the scenes, a listing that should have been entered never got done—and Kathryn steps in to fix it. The client is happy....

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn shares real stories from some of the worst listing and buyer appointment mistakes she made early in her real estate career. The bigger lesson is not just that these appointments were awkward. It’s that they all exposed the same problem: bending professional standards in the name of opportunity. Kathryn breaks down how lack of pre-qualification, weak a...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn Stelljes shares one of the most expensive lessons she learned in nearly 20 years of real estate: spending money on leads before having the systems, speed, and follow-up in place to convert them. She breaks down what happened when she invested in Zillow leads and outsourced prospecting, why it did not produce the return she expected, and what she would...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn Stelljes kicks off a new season called  Lessons I Learned the Hard Way So You Don’t Have To  with a deeply personal conversation about one of the biggest mistakes she made early in her real estate career:  not building her sphere of influence and database soon enough . Kathryn shares what it was like getting into real estate in 2006 while still in sch...

In this special episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn shares a real-time recap of what she learned at Keller Williams Family Reunion in Atlanta. Recorded across several days during the conference, this episode captures her biggest takeaways on leadership, leverage, social media, AI, client experience, productivity, motivated seller lead generation, investing, mindset, and time management. Kathryn...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn and Patrick close out their season on time management by narrowing the conversation down to the three habits that matter most for real estate agents: setting clear boundaries, building a consistent weekly planning habit, and putting lead generation first. They begin with boundaries and why so many agents create unnecessary stress by making themselves...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn and Patrick talk about the 80/20 principle and how real estate agents can stop confusing urgent tasks with important ones. They break down why lead generation has to come before the busy work, how habit stacking can help you stay on track, and why most agents already know what matters most — they just don’t consistently do it. They also talk about bui...

In this episode of Seeking the Best, Kathryn Stelljes and co-host Patrick break down how real estate agents can become more efficient with their time—without sacrificing the client experience. They explain Parkinson’s Law (work expands to fill the time allowed) and why unstructured workdays cause simple tasks to take far longer than they should. Kathryn shares a real example from early in her care...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn Stelljes and co-host Patrick break down why a listing-focused real estate business creates more time, leverage, and long-term sustainability than a buyer-heavy approach. Kathryn explains that leverage is not just about hiring people—it’s about building systems, using tools, and setting boundaries that protect your calendar. Real estate agents often fe...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn Stelljes and co-host Patrick explore why time struggles in real estate are rarely about poor scheduling—and almost always about a lack of boundaries. Kathryn explains that most agents can create a solid schedule, but habits, emotions, and the absence of accountability cause them to break it. When agents don’t feel like lead generating, feel uncomforta...

In this episode of  Seeking the Best , Kathryn Stelljes and co-host Patrick continue the season-long conversation about time by addressing one of the most common struggles real estate agents face: feeling overwhelmed, busy, and scattered despite working long hours. This episode breaks down why overwhelm is rarely about workload—and more often about a lack of structure, clarity, and intentional pla...

Focus isn’t about discipline—it’s about structure. In this episode, Kathryn Stelljes explains why real estate agents struggle to stay focused and how small changes to daily routines can protect attention, reduce distractions, and improve productivity without working longer hours. This episode is part of Seeking the Best, the real estate agent podcast for new and growing agents focused on time mana...

Being busy doesn’t always mean being productive. In this episode, Kathryn Stelljes breaks down why real estate agents often feel overwhelmed yet under-effective—and how mental clutter and reactive habits quietly steal time. Learn how to simplify your workday, protect focus, and make space for the work that truly matters. This episode is part of Seeking the Best, the real estate agent podcast for n...

This season is all about time! In today's episode we talk about your how to schedule the precious time you have for yourself without feeling overwhelmed or guilty. Later we offer up "Your Best Move" and we finish up with "Small Wins" This episode is part of Seeking the Best, the real estate agent podcast for new and growing agents focused on time management, lead generation...

This season is all about time! In today's episode we talk about your calendar and setting yourself up for success - right from the beginning, Later we offer up "Your Best Move" and we finish up with "Small Wins" This episode is part of Seeking the Best, the real estate agent podcast for new and growing agents focused on time management, lead generation, productivity, and bu...