KGCI: Real Estate on Air - The 4 Reasons Real Estate Agents FAIL [And how to AVOID Failing]

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

It is no surprise that 87% of real estate agents fail every two years. That statistic has been known for a long time, and that's because agents get into the business thinking they're going to crush, thinking it's going to be easy. Hint, hint, it's not. And they don't end up crushing it. Maybe they didn't ask enough questions beforehand to see if they would even be able to be a successful real estate agent,

and if they would even like it. Because another hint, if you don't end up liking it, you're probably not going to succeed. So this video is covering exactly why. Why do so many agents fail out of the business every two years? And let's start with number one. Number one, I think, is because they did not do enough upfront work and effort and researching into what exactly the business is.

And I get it. It's hard to know when you're going from whatever job you have now to thinking about, maybe I'll become a real estate agent. Or maybe you just got your license and you're listening to this and you're like, I know that I want to do it. I don't really have access to real estate agents who are killing it, who are crushing it, and you think, well, I will get to know them once I join. And then you join just a local team who, full of agents that maybe are not crushing it,

they're not doing the goals that you want to achieve for yourself. They're not making the amount of money that you want to make for yourself. And then all of a sudden, you've surrounded yourself around people that are low achievers. You're not getting the support that you need, and then you quit. I don't want that to be you. I'm not saying that I did everything correct, but I interviewed 13 different brokerages to make sure that I made the right choice the first time. I was like, hey, I want to be a successful real estate agent. I want to make roughly this amount, which was a little over $120,000.

Who else is doing that already? Boom, I want to join that group. And guess what? That group was not local to me. In fact, I was the only agent in the state of Arizona and I had joined a group that was mainly in North Carolina. because in my local area in Tucson, I didn't find any agents, frankly, that were making the amount of money that I wanted to make, that I felt that I could vibe with, that did not require me to have my butt in the seat and show up to an office, which is not what I wanted to do. I can work from home. I don't need anybody else hand holding me. I'm a fucking adult. If I have a question, I'm going to try to figure it out first before I ask anybody and waste their time. That's the type of person that I am. That's a type of crew that we now have. And if there were any that matched that criteria locally, They were going to be charging me a 50-50 split for their resources.

No thank you. Instead, so I joined a group from EXP called the Five Pillars Community. Book a call if you want to join us. Book a call if you have any questions about it as well. We were growing at a super fast rate for a reason. So I joined that group because they were giving me the free resources, everything, and they were achieving. I was going to be digitally surrounding myself around people that were achieving the goal that I have for myself.

What better than to work with and surround myself with people that already are achieving the goals that I want. My goal was there every day. So going back to number one, it's doing enough research to know and know what your own goal is and where else can I find people that are already doing it. Doesn't matter what the hell they promise. It's do they already do it themselves? The number two reason why I think a lot of real estate agents fail, 87% of real estate agents fail, is because they do not have enough capital or money saved in reserves. You may be coming from a W-2 where you're either used to steady payment every month, every two weeks, every week, or some sort of gig work like maybe driving for Uber, where you're

used to getting paid way faster than that. That is a huge change where you're going to be a real estate agent and the client that you're finally working with now after months or maybe weeks of time and effort in trying to even find that client, you're still having to work with them for another two, maybe three months before they close. So instead of you getting paid every two weeks or every week or every month, you're now waiting every 30, 60, 90, 120 days to get paid. And just because you start talking to clients does not mean they're going to close with you. You have to develop those skills to make sure that you're a good communicator, that you show your value, that you're telling the clients exactly what you're doing behind the scenes to prove your value,

which I'll get into. But a lot of people just don't realize that. They think that they're going to get clients very fast or immediately after becoming a licensed agent and telling their friends and family that they're an agent. And they think they're going to get paid 30 to 60 days after they get licensed. Sometimes you do. That's if you have done the upfront work while you're in real estate school telling everyone you freaking know that you are becoming an agent and why they should choose you. But majority of the time, people don't do that. They wait until they get licensed to then start telling people that they know, hey, I'm a licensed real estate agent. Do you know anyone looking to buy or sell? And then by that point, if they don't continue doing their lead generation strategies, which, by the way, we teach you how to find your own leads without having to pay for it.

By the time they start finding clients, then they have to wait another 60, 90, 120, maybe 180 days until that buyer or that seller is ready to place their house in the market. And then you finally get a commission check after a lot of work and a lot of agents get into the business without having enough reserves in place. You have to have to have money saved up. That's why I started as a part-time agent. I had my Air Force job paying me a pretty good amount. I was a major in the Air Force. I spent a decade active duty before I decided to separate. But while I was active duty Air Force and still traveling and still working at least 50 hours a week,

I was a licensed real estate agent getting my feet off the ground talking to every single person I knew. I mean everyone. And I was working about 60 hours a week, if that math even adds up. I pretty much had two full-time jobs. Yes, I was a part-time real estate agent, but I made $120,000 my first year in the business. as an agent, which matched how much I was making as an Air Force officer. And that's not because of luck. That's not because of any sort of like technique or skill, although my crew does teach that to you. It's pure repetition. If I had separated from the Air Force and then done only full-time

agent stuff, real estate agent stuff, because I went from being a special agent to a real estate agent. If I didn't have the comfort of still having a W-2, I would have saved one year's worth of living expenses. If you don't know what that is, go to your credit cards and go to your checking account, see how much you spend every single month, take the last 12 months and add that all together. That's how much I would have wanted to feel safe and secure before starting this new career. Some people are good with as little as three months of living expenses. I say at least six months. If you don't know already, I am very risk-averse, so I would have done 12 months. But instead, I did something where I think is even better. I stayed at my W-2, knowing that I was going to leave my

W-2, I had a specific end date and that I was going to do everything full-time real estate agent after that. And going back to the agents that think that they're just going to start getting clients as soon as they announce on Facebook with a simple post, I'm a licensed real estate agent now. In the beginning of being a licensed agent, it's almost like that cartoon. It wasn't really like a big cartoon watcher, but like back in the 90s where they would have like that road runner, I think, where it's just spinning your legs. And like before they zoom and take off, they're just staying in place like while zooming their legs and like the wind is kicking up. You know what I'm talking about?

Like that's what being a beginning license agent is. You're like working, working, working, talking to so, so many people, or at least you should be. You're talking to 30 people a day, 40 people a day. If you're cold calling, you're probably doing 100 calls a day, 200 calls a day. If you're starting to use open houses, you're probably doing six to eight open houses every single week, week after week. So you're like in the beginning, you're spinning your wheels. But as soon as you start getting that traction and doing the same shit over and over again, you will gain momentum and then you will be that roadrunner that finally gets their,

you know, their stop spinning their wheels and they finally get some traction behind them. So that's one. And number two. Number three is a majority of the agents fail because they do not niche down enough. And yes, I say niche, whatever you want to say. I think that if you are trying to help all people, you are helping no one. If someone were to come to you and say, hey, do you know of anyone there where I can help with their real estate needs? You're going to be like, no.

But if instead they say, hey, Larry, do you know of anyone that recently had a base? who is potentially looking to upgrade their house and get into a bigger house? Or do you know of anyone that recently had a promotion that may be looking to upgrade their house? Do you know of anyone whose parents recently sent their kids off to college that may be looking to downsize? At that point, because they are so specific, that is when you're real start turning and thinking, do I know of any parents that really recently send kids to college? I don't know. Let me think. Instead of, that doesn't trigger any bells.

When you're communicating with people, you need to make sure that you're saying something so specific that people will remember you. the agent. Allie the agent. Allie the agent. I am military. I work VA buyers and military home sellers. That's my niche. But a lot of people are scared of niching down because the more that they tell themselves, or tell the world, rather, that they are helping this one specific avatar of buyer or seller or a certain transition of life type of client, they think that by doing that, they're turning away all of this other business, that they're losing money by turning away all the business. But without you niching down and telling the world what your niche is, people will never remember you. And that is what you need them to. You need people to remember you. So number three is I think a lot of agents are

scared of leaving money on the table. So they say yes to every opportunity, which only ends up slowing them down instead of being able to scale their business. I originally started working with just investors. I'm an investor first, and I do not really announce that too much because I do not want investor clients. But when I first got started as an agent, because that's what I am, I'm like, hey, I want to also help out other investors. No. And I'll get into that in another video, maybe, actually probably not. But I decided I did not want to work with investors. I do not work with investors.

Instead, I focus on those that will actually buy and sell, which are VA buyers, my military community. They move very often. I have been in their lifestyle. I've been in their shoes. I have used the VA loan multiple times between my wife and I three times. I know what it's like to buy and sell. So that's the type of market that I can help. Those are my people that I can help and that I'm compensated for.

So by doing that and making that public, I started saying no to anybody else that came through to me. No matter what the price point was, no matter how urgent it seemed, I said no. And I actually ended up referring them out. So sometimes I still got paid by saying no, but referring them to an agent that was better equipped for that. So whatever niche you want to focus on, whether it's senior citizens or condos or luxury or beachfront, whatever it is, whether it's a type of person, a type of lifestyle change, like a promotion, divorce, whatever it is, or the type of property, because I think those are the three different types of niches that you can do. Sometimes they mix and match. You have to make sure that

you stay in your lane. And of course, in the beginning, when you're a new agent, you might think that your niche is this, and then you end up flexing, but at least you have tried it. And do not be tempted by the shiny objects that are going to come at you saying, hey, I'm a cash buyer, I want to do this, which is maybe not your focus. Maybe your only focus was to work with sellers. Just because you can make money doesn't mean you should make money with them. So niche down. The fourth reason why so many agents fail is because of distractions.

And my goodness, so it kind of goes hand in hand with number three. but number three was distractions in your niche. Number four is distractions in any other capability in any other way. So you either are still too focused on your W-2, or you have left your W-2 and you're now only a full-time agent, but you're trying to trade different ways to prospect your time. So let me rephrase that differently. Instead of you making your YouTube videos, doing your cold calls,

doing your eight open houses every single week, or doing whatever lead generation strategy is best for you, you instead say, well, I think I want to do this instead. So maybe to get in front of this type of client, and maybe to be more in person, I should pick up a side gig to get in front of that type of person. Wrong. Wrong.

Wrong. Wrong. Like there's no reason that for you being a real estate agent, that you should start doing other side hustles to then pay your real estate agent business. And I see this all of the time. A lot of real estate agents are not focusing their time on prospecting, which is hard,

which is boring, which is repetitive, but it is necessary. So instead they say, well, I'll supplement my income, since my real estate agent business is down a little bit, I'll make some more money by being an insurance agent. I think I'm going to be a bartender. I think I'm going to start driving for Uber. I think I'm going to create and start from scratch a whole new side business.

Do not do that. Distractions will kill you as an entrepreneur. And I don't want to say kill you. It'll kill the business. Because the more that you can focus on one thing, the more of a master you're going to become at that. Say your avatar, you want to work with luxury clients. And where do the luxury people go? They might be going to the most expensive golf course in town.

They might be going to the most expensive bars in town. So you think, well, to get in front of them, maybe I'll be a bartender at that bar. Maybe I'll be a golf caddy if people still do that. Or maybe I'll be a bartender at the golf club. Or like work in the golf course? No. at that point, they're seeing you as their driver. You know, they're seeing you as their bartender.

They're seeing you as the golf caddy. Who, when was the first time that you have ever seen someone in that position and thought, oh, you're also working real estate? I wonder when. Okay, can you show me a house this Saturday? No, because you're now bartending. Because you're now Uber driving. Because you're now, you know, driving for Uber Eats.

Stop dividing your time and making it harder for yourself on all these different side ventures, which are all trying to answer the question of how do I fund my real estate agent business? This all would have been already resolved. It wouldn't even have been an issue? How do you have enough money to begin with with having six to 12 months of living expenses? I say this time and time again in my other videos, but the pilot does not serve the drinks. You're not going to get your photography license because you all of a sudden have a listing and you know you're too cheap to pay for a photographer.

No, you're going to pay for a photographer. When you're a buyer's agent, you're not also going to become a licensed home inspector to then inspect that home. Like, no, there are other auxiliary businesses that have nothing to do with you being an agent. Being an agent and focus on prospecting is all you need to succeed. Stop distracting yourself and eliminate everything else. If you are struggling as a real estate agent right now and you don't have enough money, the answer is not getting another job. It is making your calls. It is doing more open houses.

And I'm not just saying this to yell at you. I was in a similar boat. I got my notary license and I got my real estate license around the same time. And I figured I would do both. Obviously, I would not be notarizing my own transactions. That's illegal. But I'd be a notary like on the side, right? No.

I realize how much of a business just being a real estate agent is that I never took off at all with my notary stuff. It was just a distraction. I have my stamp somewhere. Never once used it. We'll never use it. That's a whole other business. Everything else is just a whole other business. When you're beginning as an agent, I mean, I have a 200-step onboarding checklist for you. That's all you need. And does it go into the weeds? 100%. Can it be overwhelming? 100%. That's what being an entrepreneur is. You're always going to feel overwhelmed. That never ends. So if you're going to join us, you're going to get my 200-step onboarding checklist. Complete that. If you complete that, you are going to have more business than you ever thought you would have. And that doesn't even include the outreach that you're Whenever you have any questions, reach out to me, reach out to Shelby, reach out to Rubin,

reach out to Micah. We're all here to help you. As long as we see that you've been putting in effort, but our checklists are all you need to succeed. And I only give these checklists out to my EXP crew. I only tutor and help and do one-on-one trainings with those in my crew. I have had questions about that, so I feel like I need to say that. And don't just take my word for this. Do the math.

So say you live in an area where the average price of a house sells at $300,000. And whatever the commission is, say it's 2.5, say you do 3%, whatever it is, say it's 3%. Roughly, you're making $9,000 per transaction. Of course, this is before taxes, before any sort of broker fees, which I cover in other videos. So if you're going to be making $9,000 per closing, and instead, you're giving that up for the quick cash of grooming a dog or walking a dog or bartending for, you know, $300 on a Saturday night, even if it's 600 bucks on a Saturday night, that's not $9,000. How many nights would you need to bartend in order to make that $9,000?

How many hours would you need to drive for Uber or Uber Eats? So just overall stop disrespecting yourself and doing stuff that pays less when you could be focusing on growing your entire business. I think personally the only time to add auxiliary businesses like a title company or, you know, like what a lot of other agents to start, like a lending company. is once you have exhausted all options, if your niche is the zip code 55101, once you have called every single potential client in the zip code 55101, then at that point you can start adding on another business. But pretty much, until you have spoken to every single potential client that is your avatar, don't start another business.

If you want more of this, if you want to be part of our community and you are a go-getter, That's all I'm looking to partner with is just go-getters. Then please reach out to me because I want to talk to you. If you're considering switching brokerages, book a call with the link below. I'll see you on the Zoom and we'll talk more. Bye.