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The speaker explains why new agents fail by trying to do too much and introduces a stripped-down approach to starting from scratch. He previews the exact steps he would follow and what he would avoid.
If I lost everything tomorrow, no database, no brand, no reputation, no coaching business, and I had to start completely from scratch as a brand new real estate agent, I would do so much less than what most people aregoing to tell you to do.I've been selling real estate for over 30 years.I've personally sold hundreds or more homes every single year for the last 20 years myself, and my company closed over 4,000 transactions in the last 12 months.And I've coached thousands of agents across the country from brand new licensees to doing over 400 deals a year.So I've had a front row seat to what actually works and what's just noise, especially in that first year.And what I've learned is that new agents don't fail because they didn't do enough.They fail because they tried to do everything.They buy leads before they can convert a conversation.
They build a website before they've ever talked to a seller.They try to post on five social media platforms before they've made five phone calls.They spend money they don't have on tools they don't need, and they spread themselves so thin across so many activities that they never actually get good at the one thing that would change everything for them.So if I was starting over today, I wouldn't do more.I'd do dramatically less, but I would do those few things at such a high level that the results would take care of themselves.In this video, I'm going to walk you through the exact steps I would take in the exact order I would take them, and I'm also going to tell you what I would specifically avoid because that part might bemore valuable than anything else I say.And real quick, if you're a new agent or you're restarting and you want coaching on exactly how to build this from the ground up, that's what we do inside my Agent Success Academy.
You get the scripts, the daily structure, and a room full of agents going through the same journey.The link is in the description.Now let me show you what I'd actually do.
He lays out the first major priorities: avoid expensive tools, paid leads, and scattered marketing, and instead commit to one outbound prospecting method. He then emphasizes spending weeks mastering scripts and role-playing before making calls.
The first thing I would do is make a list of everything the industry is going to try to sell me in my first year, and then I would ignore almost all of it.I would not buy leads, not from Zillow, not from realtor.com, not from any portal or platform because buying leads when you can't convert a conversation is like buying a gym membership when you don't know how to use anyof the equipment.You're just going to waste money and get frustrated.The leads aren't the problem for new agents.It's what you say when someone picks up the phone that's the problem and no amount of purchased leads will fix a skill you haven't built.I would not spend money on professional headshots that cost $2,000.I'd not invest in a CRM with 47 features when all I need is a simple way to keep track of people and their contact information.
I would not buy a coaching program until I've at least proven to myself that I'm willing to do the work because coaching only works when you actually follow through on what the coach tells you to do.I would not try to build a social media following.Not yet.Not in the first 90 days because creating content is a passive strategy that takes months to produce results and in your first 90 days, you need active strategies that put you in front of people today, not 6 monthsfrom now.Right now, it's a distraction dressed up as productivity and I would not try to master five different lead generation strategies at once.I've watched thousands of agents try to cold call and door knock and run Facebook ads and do open houses and post on Instagram and start a YouTube channel all at the same time.They never build enough momentum on any single channel to actually see results so they bounce from one to the next thinking the problem is the strategy when the real problem is they never committed to anything long enough for
it to work.If I was starting over, I would pick one outbound prospecting method and go all in on it for the next 12 months.Not 12 days, not 12 weeks, 12 months.For me personally, it would be calling expired listings and for sale by owners because those are people who've already raised their hands and said they want to sell.But the specific method matters less than the commitment.Cold calling works, door knocking works, open houses work, circle prospecting works.They all work if you actually do them consistently and long enough to build momentum.The agents who fail are the ones who try something for 3 weeks, don't see results, and switch to something else.That's not a strategy.That's a hobby.So, the first thing I would do is clear the deck.Strip away everything that doesn't directly build my core business.And then I would focus every ounce of energy I have on the one thing that unlocks everything else.
If I was starting from scratch today, I would not make a single prospecting call until I had spent at least 2 weeks doing nothing but practicing my scripts and dialogues.And I know that sounds backwards because other coaches going to tell you to get on the phone immediately, start making calls on day one, just dial in and figure it out as you go.I disagree.And the reason I disagree is because I've watched what happens when new agents start calling before they know what to say.They burn through contacts they'll never get back.They stumble through conversations.They sound nervous and unprepared.And the seller hangs up, and now that person has a negative impression on them forever.In a local market, you can't afford that.You're going to run into those same people again.Every single thing that happens in your business comes at the end of a conversation.
Whether you get the appointment, whether you get the listing, whether you get the price reduction, whether the deal closes, all of it depends on the quality of your dialogue.So, if there's one skill that deserves your full attention before anything else, it's this one.When I say practice your scripts, I don't mean read them off a piece of paper and hope for the best.I mean immerse yourself in them.Record the scripts in your own voice on your phone.Play them in your car.Play them when you're getting ready in the morning.Play them when you're at the gym.Just let the words wash over you the same way a song does when it comes on the radio.You didn't sit down and memorize your favorite songs.You just heard them enough times that the words become a part of you.That's exactly how script mastery works.
After a few days of listening, you record yourself again, and you'll notice you sound a little bit better, a little more natural, a little less like you're reading.Then you listen to that version for a few more days and record again.Within two or three weeks, the scripts are in you.They come out naturally because your muscles know the patterns, the same way your mouth knows the words to a song you've heard 100 times.Then you start role-playing with another agent for 30 minutes a day.And yes, it's going to feel awkward and embarrassing.Good.You want all the awkwardness and stumbling to happen with a practice partner, not with a real seller who could have been your next listing.Every objection you fumble in practice is an objection you'll handle with confidence in the field.I would invest these two weeks before I ever started dialing because when I finally did pick up the phone, I would sound like a professional from the very first call.
And in a business where most new agents sound nervous and scattered, that alone would set me apart from everyone else calling that same expired listing.So now, I've got my skills sharp.I know what to say and I'm confident saying it.
The focus shifts to creating a strict daily routine centered on morning prospecting and measurable conversation goals. He also explains how to treat every rejection as future opportunity by capturing contacts and building a database from day one.
The next thing I need is a system that makes sure I actually use those skills every single day because talent without structure just turns into wasted potential.One of the biggest mistakes I see new agents make is they wait until they're desperate for a deal before they start prospecting consistently.And by then, it's too late.They're panicking.They're making calls from a place of fear instead of confidence, and everything feels like a scramble.If I was starting over, I'd build my daily ritual in the very first week before I had a single client, before I had a single listing, before there was any pressure on me at all because the best timeto build a habit is when there's nothing competing for your attention.My ritual would be simple.Every morning, first thing, I'm making outbound calls for 3 hours.I'd protect that time the way I'd protect a meeting with my most important client because in a real sense, that's exactly what it is.
I'm meeting with myself to build my own business.Everything else, the emails, the texts, the paperwork, putting out someone else's fire, all of that happens after my prospecting is done.During that window, my goal would be a minimum of 20 to 25 conversations per day.Not 20 dials, 20 actual conversations with real people.And I would track that number every single day because when you have a specific target, you start self-correcting.If you're halfway through your session and you've only talked to six people, you dial faster.You adjust your approach and you push harder.But if you don't have a number to hit, you drift.You make eight calls, get discouraged, and go check your email.The number keeps you honest.And here's something I want to be direct about.This is going to be boring.It's going to be repetitive.You're going to do the same thing at the same time every single day, and most days it's not going to feel exciting or glamorous.
That's exactly why it works.The agents who can sit in that boredom every morning are the ones who build something real.The agents who need every day to feel different and exciting are the ones who end up with an income that looks like a roller coaster.I would build this ritual from day one, so by the time the business starts coming in, the habit's already locked in.I've seen agents try to add prospecting after they've already developed the habit of checking their phone first thing or responding to emails all morning, and it's 10 times harder to change an existing habit than to build the rightone from the start.If you're a new agent who wants a proven daily structure and someone holding you accountable to actually following it, that's exactly what we build inside Agent Success Academy.There's a link below in the description.
Now, let me tell you about the thing I'd start doing for my very first call that most agents don't figure out for years.If I was starting over, I would treat every single no as a deposit into a savings account that's going to pay me interest for the next 20 years.Most new agents think the only successful outcome of a prospecting call is someone saying yes, I want to sell.And when they hear no, they feel like the call was a failure.So, they hang up, move on, and never think about that person again.That is the most expensive mistake a new agent can make, and almost every single one of them makes it.Nearly every piece of real estate will sell at some point.The person who told you no today is going to sell in 1 year, 3 years, or maybe 5 years from now.
The majority of homes that closed in the market this month are properties where the owner told some other agent they weren't selling just a couple of years ago.The deal is always coming.The only question is whether you're the agent they think of when the day finally arrives.So, every single time someone tells me no, I would capture them.I'd get their email address before I hang up.I would say something like "I completely understand you're not selling right now, and that's totally fine.A lot of homeowners in your neighborhood have asked me to keep them posted on what's happening with property values in that area.What's the best email so I can make sure you're getting that same information."And most people will give it to you because you're offering something useful instead of asking for something from them.Then I put that person in my database, and I deliver value to them every single month.
Not just checking in, "Are you ready to sell yet?"That's the death of a relationship.I'm talking about a market update for their street, a recent sale in their neighborhood, something that actually helps them as a homeowner.And over time, those nos start converting into inbound calls from people who are now ready to sell, and I'm the only agent they think of because I've been showing up consistently for months or years while every other agentdisappeared after the first no.If I started today and I made 20 contacts a day, five days a week, and I captured even a third of those nos, I'd have close to 300 people in my database within the first 90 days.Within a year, I'd have over 1,000 people.That is an asset that will feed me for the rest of my real estate career.And agents who start building it from day one have an enormous advantage over the agents who wait until year three to realize they should have been doing this the whole time.
So, I've stripped away the noise, I've built my skills, I've locked in my daily ritual, and I'm building a database from the very first call.If I did those four things and nothing else, I'd be ahead of 90% of agents within my first year.
He warns that many new agents quit around day 75 when results lag behind effort, and urges preparation for that emotional slump. The key lesson is to judge success by consistent work, not immediate payoff.
But there's something about that first year that nobody warns you about.And if you're not prepared for it, it will knock you out of this business before any of this has a chance to work.If I was starting over, I would sit down on day one and write myself a letter.And the letter would say something like, "Around day 75, you're going to want to quit.You're going to feel like this doesn't work.Like your coach doesn't know what he's talking about.Like you made a terrible career decision.You're going to look at your bank account and your results and feel like a complete failure.When that day comes, read this letter and remember that this is exactly what you were told would happen.Keep going.The harvest is at day 90."I would write that letter because I've watched this happen hundreds of times.
An agent comes in, they're excited, they do everything right for the first 60 to 70 days.They prospect every morning, they follow the system, they put in the work, and nothing happens.No listings, no closings, no money.So, around day 75, they decide it just doesn't work, and they walk away.And the heartbreaking thing is that in this business, the work you do today doesn't pay you today.It pays you in 90 days or 6 months, or sometimes even a year.Those agents who quit at day 75 had already done the hard part.The callbacks were coming, the leads were about to show up.They planted the entire garden, and they walked away a week before the flowers bloomed.I see it so consistently that the experienced agents in my office almost place bets on when it's going to happen with the new ones.It's like clockwork.
Three months in, the new agent decides, "I sold them a bill of goods."They start saying the calls don't work, "Nobody wants to do anything, the market is bad."And then the ones who push through that wall, who keep showing up even when nothing is happening, they watch the deals they planted months earlier start appearing almost on schedule.If I was starting over, I'd prepare for that wall the same way you'd prepare for a hard stretch on a long road trip.You don't panic when the scenery gets boring.You don't pull over and turn around because you haven't arrived yet.You just keep driving because you know the destination is ahead of you even though you can't see it from where you are right now.The way to survive is simple.Don't measure yourself by your results in the early days.Measure yourself by whether you did the work.
If you showed up and made your 20 to 25 contacts and followed the ritual and captured your no's, that day was a success regardless of whether anyone said yes.Trust the gap between your effort and the payoff because the gap is exactly where everyone else quits and hands you their market share.
The final section shifts to long-term business design: building scalable systems, tracking numbers, and focusing on listings instead of buyers. He closes by pointing viewers to the next video on getting first listings as a new agent.
So, I built the skills, I built the systems, I built my database, and I'm mentally prepared for the hard stretch in the middle.There's one more thing I'd go do from the very beginning that most new agents don't think about until it's almost too late.If I was starting over, I'd make one decision on day one that would shape everything I did from that point.I would decide that I'm not just getting into real estate to make some money.I'm building a business that will eventually run without me being involved in every single transaction.When you're just trying to get your first deal, thinking about building a company feels ridiculous.But the decisions you make in year one lay the foundation for what your career looks like in year five and year 10.And if you make those early decisions like an employee, like someone who's just trying to survive, you'll build habits that keep you stuck as a one-person operation forever.
If I was starting over from day one, I'd build my database in a system that can scale.Not in my phone, not on scraps of paper, not in my head.In a real CRM that I can add team members to later, that I can automate follow-up from, and that I own.Because 3 years from now, when I've got a thousand people on my database and I'm ready to bring on a buyer's agent, I need all of that organized and accessible.From day one, I would track my numbers.How many contacts I'm making, how many appointments I'm setting, how many listings I'm taking, what my conversion rate is.Because you cannot improve what you don't measure.The agents who track their numbers from the beginning can see exactly where their leaks are and fix them.The agents who don't track anything just feel busy and wonder why the results aren't there.
And from day one, I'd be thinking about listings, not buyers.I know it's tempting for new agents to work with buyers because it feels easier and less scary than calling strangers and asking for a listing.But I've been in the business for 30 years and I can tell you that a listing-based business gives you a completely different life than a buyer-based business.Listings give you predictability, control over your schedule, and a natural source of buyer leads that you can eventually hand off to someone else.A buyer-based business gives you nights, weekends, and an income you can never quite count on.If I was a brand new agent today, I would tell myself on day one that I am building a listing-based business.I would orient every skill, every call, every conversation around becoming the best listing agent in my market, and I would let that decision guide everything else I did from that point forward.
So, that's exactly what I would do if I was starting as a real estate agent in 2026.But once you've built the foundation, the question every new agent asks next is, "Okay, how do I actually go get my first listings?"Because that's where the money starts, which is why I made this video right here, where I break down exactly how to start getting listings as a brand new agent, even if you have zero experience and zero past clientsto lean on.That's the one to watch next, and I'll see you there.