The ONE Newsletter | Why New Agents Fail #3: 100% Commission Based
Sent by Michael Opyd | 10.15.25
ONE LESSON
A few years into owning my brokerage, I was having a conversation with an agent who had recently joined. He was talking to me about his business and the challenges he was facing. He told me how he was struggling to get new clients and his business was not where he wanted it to be. As we spoke about what he was doing to market himself, I noticed how nice his watch was. As a huge fan of watches, I wanted to know what brand it was. After a minute or so, I saw the word Rolex at the top of the face under the familiar crown logo. Once my agent stopped speaking, I asked him about the watch, to which he happily told me he paid $10,000 for it. Dumbfounded, I suggested he sell the watch and use the money to help him create more business. He laughed at my suggestion and today still owns the watch, plus a business that has not reached its full potential.
LESSON LEARNED: Every dollar you spend outside your business is one less dollar you can spend on it.
Having owned a brokerage for almost a decade that was designed to help new agents, I saw firsthand how agents spend their money. Plus, when I started, I only had $2,000 to my name, so I was forced to make every dollar count since I didn’t have any to waste. I kept this same frugal mindset throughout my career, and it helped me make sure I didn’t spend unwisely. When you are just starting and don’t have any income yet, your focus should be on how you can make the most of the money you have. Before you spend a dime on anything, ask yourself if spending the money will get you closer or farther from your goal. If it’s farther, take it out of your cart. Once you have extra income, then buy it. It will be good motivation to keep you going!
ONE TIP
Create your budget before you get your license and revisit it every year. A mistake many new agents make is not taking the time to understand the money they have and how to use it as effectively as possible. Take the time to do this before you enter the industry, so you see how your money is flowing and make the adjustments necessary to have more available to invest in your business.
NOTE: My website has an eBook titled Designing Your Budget Workbook for less than a Starbucks latte, which you can use to create and revisit your budget every year. You can check it out HERE.
ONE QUOTE
Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey, on frugality:
“Financial peace isn't the acquisition of stuff. It's learning to live on less than you make, so you can give money back and have money to invest. You can't win until you do this.”
ONE QUESTION
What could you cut back on or cut out to make the money you have work for you?
If you review your finances, I bet you can find areas where you are spending money that could be better allocated to your business. Are there subscriptions you don’t need, or are you spending too much on Starbucks coffee each week (I used to do this)? Look for where your money is flowing out and turn off the faucet so you can use that money to grow your business quicker.
Catch you next week!
Michael Opyd | Business + Life Coach for New Real Estate Agents
Author of The Education of a Real Estate Agent & The Education of a Real Estate Agent Workbook
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About the Newsletter
The ONE Newsletter was created to help new real estate agents get the most usable knowledge in the shortest time. Every week, the latest issue is sent to agents who are eager to learn and grow (personally and professionally)! Each email includes One lesson, One tip, One quote, and One question, designed to read in 60 seconds or less!
Books
On Sale Now! 15% Off!
Hi, I’m Michael Opyd. Over the last decade, I have dedicated my life to helping people entering the real estate industry build their business and change their lives. This passion to help comes directly from my challenges building a real estate business with minimal education available to assist me, and seeing how many people are forced to go through what I went through. It is what led me to open up a brokerage specifically designed for new real estate agents, where the education we offered helped them sell and earn two to four times as much as an average first-year agent. As much as I loved the brokerage and our agents, seeing their success drove me to want to help more new agents. So for over two years, I worked until one or two in the morning six days a week, to write my books The Education of a Real Estate Agent and Workbook that help agents learn how to build a successful real estate business while building one at the same time.
I’m going to be real with you, the real estate industry is unintentionally designed for you to fail. Why? Because, most of the education offered by brokerages (and coaches) is for veteran agents, since they are the ones who make them more money. Unfortunately, this forces anyone new to try and figure things out on their own. An almost impossible task. So much so that 75% of the agents don’t even make it past their first year!
I wrote my books to help change this and provide people with a real opportunity to succeed in this challenging career. To provide everyone entering the industry with the knowledge that the industry unfortunately doesn't offer.
When you finish The Education of a Real Estate Agent Workbook, you will:
✅ Complete the important items that only 25% of agents who succeed complete
✅ Know exactly what to say to yourself to overcome every challenge that comes your way
✅ Not only vividly see everything you want in business and life, but also how to achieve all of it
✅ Thoroughly understand what your current financial situation is and how to use whatever available money you have to its fullest potential and drive your business forward
✅ Know the exact questions you need to ask a team leader and brokerage when interviewing, so you don’t destroy your career by joining the wrong one
✅ Quickly build the most important part of your business and put an easy-to-follow, actionable plan in place to create a sales-generating engine
✅ Avoid all of the common mistakes newer agents make when working with buyers and sellers so you can start closing transactions and generate income quicker
✅ Know how to identify your ideal client and convince them to use you over every other agent in your market
✅ Build your complete brand and know how to promote it like a professional marketing agency
✅ Understand how to maximize every minute of your day to become a sales machine, while also enjoying your life!
…And this is only a fraction of what you will learn!
Please, pick up my workbook and let me help you avoid the pains and frustrations agents feel when entering the real estate industry so you can build your business quickly!
NOTE: There is a 25% discount if you purchase the workbook and book together
Shipping is always free!
On Sale Now! 15% Off!
“This book needs to be in the hands of every person entering this great industry!”
— Jennifer - 1st Year real estate agent in Chicago
Hi, I’m Michael Opyd. Over the last decade, I have dedicated my life to helping people entering the real estate industry build their business and change their lives. This passion to help comes directly from my challenges building a real estate business with minimal education available to assist me, and seeing how many people are forced to go through what I went through. It is what led me to open up a brokerage specifically designed for new real estate agents, where the education we offered helped them sell and earn two to four times as much as an average first-year agent. As much as I loved the brokerage and our agents, seeing their success drove me to want to help more new agents. So for over two years, I worked until one or two in the morning six days a week, to write my books The Education of a Real Estate Agent and Workbook that help agents learn how to build a successful real estate business while building one at the same time.
I’m going to be real with you, the real estate industry is unintentionally designed for you to fail. Why? Because, most of the education offered by brokerages (and coaches) is for veteran agents, since they are the ones who make them more money. Unfortunately, this forces anyone new to try and figure things out on their own. An almost impossible task. So much so that 75% of the agents don’t even make it past their first year!
I wrote my books to help change this and provide people with a real opportunity to succeed in this challenging career. To provide everyone entering the industry with the knowledge that the industry unfortunately doesn't offer.
When you finish The Education of a Real Estate Agent, you’ll understand:
✅ How to create unbreakable mental strength so you can destroy any challenge that comes your way
✅ How to turn your goals into reality
✅ How to avoid the mistakes 99% of agents make when joining a team and brokerage, so you can make sure to join the right one to help you grow and excel
✅ How you can quickly build and easily use the one element of a real estate business that all successful agents are obsessed with
✅ How to separate yourself and get consumers to choose you over all of the other agents in your market
✅ How to generate business everywhere and anywhere, you are so you never run out of clients to serve
✅ A simple but very effective lead conversion strategy proven to convert your leads at a level far above what an agent typically does
✅ How to build your brand so people will remember and trust it
✅ The social media strategies that influencers use to create views and followers
✅ The tools you can use to build and grow your business that have been tested and proven to work
…And this is only a fraction of what you will learn!
Please, pick up my book and let me help you avoid the pains and frustrations agents feel when entering the real estate industry so you can build your business quickly!
NOTE: There is a 25% discount if you purchase the book and workbook together!
Shipping is always free!