#15 RE Prospecting - The One Thing Nobody Tells You About Building This Business

Hi ,

I've been in real estate for over 20 years, and here's what I wish someone had told me on day one: the agents who make it aren't the ones with the best scripts or the slickest marketing. They're the ones who can sit in the uncomfortable middle, the part where nothing's happening yet, but everything's being built. Most agents I've watched come and go couldn't handle the silence. The weeks where you work your tail off and hear crickets. The open houses where you're the only one who shows up. The posts that get two likes and one of them is your mom. That's not a sign you're doing it wrong. 

That's just what the beginning looks like.

This business can take years to build, and most of those years will feel boring and slow. I'll tell you what separates the agents still standing after five years from the ones who quit: they stopped looking for shortcuts and started taking action. Even small actions. Every single day.

And when you do take that action, you need to know what actually matters. Forget the stuff they taught you in licensing school for a second. The skills that will build your career are the ones nobody talks about. Like being genuinely easy to work with, for your clients, for lenders, for the agent on the other side of the deal. Like writing texts and emails in plain English instead of industry jargon that makes people's eyes glaze over. Like reading between the lines when a client says they want a four-bedroom but what they really mean is they need space for a home office and their aging parent. Like absorbing your client's stress during a tough inspection instead of adding to it. These aren't the sexy skills. But they're the ones that get you referrals.

Speaking of follow-up, let's talk about those leads sitting in your CRM collecting dust. You know the ones, people who were hot six months ago and then went quiet. Most agents write them off. Big mistake. Sometimes all it takes is one real, human text to bring them back. 

Try this: "Hey [Name], real talk here, is buying still on your radar or should I stop bugging you? 😂" Or if you've got something valuable: "Got a home hitting the market soon, not on Zillow yet. Want me to send it over to see if it fits what you're looking for?" 

The difference between a dead lead and a closing is often just an honest conversation.

At the end of the day, this business comes down to what you can control. You can't control the market, interest rates, or whether a buyer gets cold feet. But you can control your mindset, how many times you're willing to try after hearing no. You can control your actions, how you react when a deal falls apart, how you treat the client buying a $200K condo versus the one buying a $2M estate. You can control your boundaries, protecting your time so you don't burn out trying to be available 24/7. Focus there. Because when anxiety creeps in, it creates paralysis. But when you focus on action, even the small stuff, it creates momentum.

Keep pushing through. The hard work is where the good stuff gets built. And if you're still here, still showing up, still making the calls when it would be easier to scroll Instagram, you're already ahead of most people who started when you did. The work compounds. Trust it.