The 13% Podcast

What does it take to become a 13% real estate agent? One who can outlast market shifts, interest rate hikes, inventory dips, and legal changes, without burning out or giving up. Over the past year, we've posed this question to top agents, brokers, coaches, and industry leaders.  Their answers have revealed a clear truth: Success in real estate isn't about surviving one transaction at a time. It's...

Phoenix is officially in a buyer's market, and for the first time in over a decade, agents are feeling uneasy. Gone are the days of multiple offers and sellers in control. Today, buyers have more power, more options, and more room to negotiate.  For agents who built their business in a seller's market, this new reality can feel like uncharted territory. Showings are down. Homes are sitting. Client...

With all the recent shakeups in real estate, some are saying the MLS is on its way out.  Heated debates around Clear Cooperation and growing interest in listing segmentation, have left agents wondering if the future of the MLS is up in the air.  Is it just a relic of the past? Is it still useful to agents or consumers?  The MLS isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's about to become more powerful than...

At a time when the value we provide is in question, the last thing an agent can do is devalue the representation we offer.  Unfortunately, many agents unknowingly undermine their own value by falling into habits that erode the trust and professionalism clients expect.  Whether it's getting complacent in a hot market, neglecting client communication, or cutting corners to close deals quickly, these...

Many real estate agents have finally started dipping their toes into AI. But if you're only using it to write listing descriptions and emails to clients, you're just scratching the surface.  That's so 2023! From role-playing scripts and dialogues to crafting the perfect presentations, there are countless ways we could be leveraging ChatGPT to enhance our skills.  We can even use AI for personal de...

Between legal battles, market slowdowns, tech disruptions, industry shakeups, and shifts in public perception, real estate agents are facing one of the most uncertain times in real estate history. Many are asking the same questions: What's really changing? Will I still be relevant in 5 years? How can I protect my business and elevate the profession? And where does the association fit into all of t...

In real estate, everyone's chasing high volume—more deals, more leads, more dollars. But the harder we push for it, the more it seems to slip through our fingers. Funny enough, the top 13%? They're not obsessed with the numbers—and that actually works in their favor. Here's the truth: When we get too wrapped up in transaction counts and dollar signs, we lose sight of what really matters. That kind...

The troubling statistic that 75% of new agents are out of the business in 12 months doesn't end there. By year 5, half of that remaining 75% is also gone. Why do so many agents (even talented, hardworking ones) fail to have staying power in this industry?  The goal of this industry shouldn't just be to hold onto the people who survive. We should also aim to increase their number so that perhaps th...

Ever since the NAR settlement, real estate agents have been worried about the consumer paying them less. What they don't realize is: most consumers think great agents don't get paid enough.  Buyers and sellers are hungry for exceptional customer service, and they'll happily throw more dollars to an agent who provides it.  If you want to win the consumer over and grow your business, you have to tak...

Real estate agents who are in the 13% aren't just fighting for today's listings. They are already working on winning listings months or even years from now. Today's real estate market is changing rapidly, and the most successful agents know how to pivot and adapt accordingly.  Thanks to AI and shifts in consumer behavior, the way people buy and sell homes is going to look very different very soon....

When a real estate agent is struggling to stay in the game, many factors get the blame. The truth is most agent failures boil down to one thing: a lack of listings.  You can't become a great listing agent if you haven't built the skills for it…there are no shortcuts. In order to build a thriving business, we have to make sure we get to the listing table as often as possible.  It's simple: If we wa...

Year after year, real estate agents are told that their sphere is the biggest source of business. We hear it time and time again, but we don't do enough to reap the rewards.  We do our jobs well. We kill it before and during the transaction, and we remind the people who know, like and trust us to work with us and refer us, but nothing happens.  What gives?   The problem is: we're trying to get ref...

At the start of every new year, agents reset and recommit to their businesses…but that's a problem. If you have to reset, you're already starting the year on the backfoot.  The top 13% don't reset at all. Whether it's January or October, they run their businesses consistently, no matter what. That means they never lose momentum, shrink their market share, or have to start over again on January 1st...

The end of the year is upon us, and for many real estate agents, that means one thing: it's time to renew your license. But if 2024 was a tough year for you—if you barely closed any deals—you might be wondering, is it even worth it to stay in real estate? Should you push through another year, hoping for a turnaround, or is it time to hang up your license and explore something else? If you're on th...

Between social media and HGTV shows, there are a lot of people who enter real estate thinking this is an easy gig. All you need to do is get licensed and the deals will start rolling in, right?  Wrong.  A lot of the individuals who drop out of real estate are the ones who found out it wasn't as easy as they thought it would be. Or they aren't doing the right things for long enough. The real estate...

If there's a factor that drives real estate's staggering 87% exit rate, it's burnout. We're an industry of hard charging, high achievers, but sometimes that same drive can be the very thing that knocks us out of the business.  Even the most talented salesperson will fail when they're running on fumes, so it's no wonder why a lot of the best agents flame out in less than 5 years.  This job can be d...

Agents are constantly told that building relationships is the key to success in real estate, but this advice is missing a critical link.  Relationships alone don't lead to referrals, being relational does.  The quality of our sphere relationships isn't measured by how many names we have in our database. It's measured by how often people are telling their own sphere about us.  Our aim should be del...

As the market shifts and buyer compensation rules evolve, many agents are left wondering how these transformations will impact their business.  Navigating these changes requires more than just a quick update—it demands a thorough understanding of how new regulations will affect buyer expectations and agent compensation alike. Many REALTORS® are struggling to keep up with these shifts. The new comp...

In the wake of recent lawsuits and intense competition, many real estate agents are facing their biggest challenges of their entire careers. It's no wonder why many feel overwhelmed and even uncertain about the future in the industry.  The truth is, buyers today are looking for more than just a transaction - they want a trusted partner who can provide them with exceptional value and insights. The...

In today's fast-evolving real estate landscape, technology is changing how we do everything—including property appraisals.  The rise of Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) has left many wondering: Is the traditional appraisal process going to be replaced? While AVMs offer speed and convenience, they rely heavily on data. But what happens when the data is incomplete, inaccurate, or fails to account f...

In today's market, there are many factors that can take an agent out of this business. One of the worst things you can do is treat iBuyers like the enemy and only offer the  traditional real estate transaction.  Platforms like Offerpad provide multiple ways for the consumer to sell a home, but a lot of agents don't want to hear it (or tell their clients about it).  Here's the problem: If our clien...

If you're a real estate professional in 2024, you're competing with millions of agents and consumers have their pick of thousands of agents in their market.  This is the reality of the business.   If you're wishy-washy, inconsistent and not putting effort into marketing, you'll have NO PIPELINE and quickly find yourself in the 87% of agents who leave the business.  The key to standing out and buil...

Most agents put tireless work into every transaction, but their clients have ZERO CLUE about all the behind-the-scenes effort they put in.    When we don't articulate our value, people are left wondering if we do anything valuable at all.    Realtor associations have the same problem. They do a lot of work behind the scenes and it goes unnoticed.  Every day, they are battling to make sure agents c...

If you've been in real estate, even for a few years, you'll know that we're always going to be thrown a curveball or two. If it's not the rules changing up on us, it's inventory, rates or low demand.   There'll always be something we have to navigate, adjust to, pivot from and overcome. Right now, the NAR settlement is the latest change we have to work with, and it's actually not all bad news. One...

Whether we like it or not, August 17 (and the changes it will bring to real estate) is coming. As agents we have 2 options. We can complain, bury our heads in the sand, and treat it like an extinction event. Or we can put ourselves in a position to gain more market share and make more money.   Since the settlement was announced, more real estate agents have come into the industry, and that means w...