The ONE Newsletter | Why New Agents Fail #2: They Don’t Have Passion for Being a Real Estate Agent
Sent by Michael Opyd | 10.22.25
ONE LESSON
Early in my days of running my brokerage, I had set up an interview with a brand new agent who was interested in joining. When the agent walked into the office, my first impression was that this was someone who was the type of person we were looking for. After touring the office, we sat down in a conference room to talk more. As we did, the person answered all of my questions comfortably, and by the end, I felt that I had found someone who would be an amazing fit and agent. I signed them up on the spot and began meeting with them to teach them all about building and running a successful real estate business. Six months later, after putting in little effort and not getting any clients, let alone making any sales, the agent left my brokerage and the industry altogether.
LESSON LEARNED: If you don’t have a passion for what you are doing, any challenge you face becomes an excuse to quit rather than an opportunity to learn, grow, and ultimately persevere.
When I was running my brokerage, I spent a lot of time interviewing brand-new agents since they were our main focus. Early on, I never bothered to spend time finding out why the person wanted to be a real estate agent. I’d of course ask, but unless their response was “I want to be rich,” which I would then end the meeting and thank them for their time, I never bothered to go much deeper. This led to many of the agents I hired not lasting very long, with most quitting within the first year. I finally realized I needed to go deeper with people, and when I did, what I found was remarkable. I heard some of the most amazing stories, like how one agent wanted to support her mother, who had cancer, because she had done so much for her family. Or how another agent wanted to prove her parents wrong about her not being able to make it in a career like real estate, and should get a corporate job (I can definitely relate to this one!). As time went on, I began noticing the agents who had the strongest “why” or reason for being an agent not only made it through the most challenging times at the start, but also any challenges they faced as they grew their businesses. Their “why” is what they leaned on, and that constant reminder is what drove them to succeed in an industry designed for them to fail.
ONE TIP
If you do not know it, take time to find the reason why being a real estate agent is important for you. Your reason can be anything, but studying history’s most successful people, I have found that the deeper the reason, the more successful the person. For example, Tony Robbins’ reason for helping people is so no one has to go through the difficult life he went through. For me, my passion for helping new agents is to help them avoid the frustrations I felt when I entered the industry, when I had little to no education available to help me. So ask yourself, why is being a real estate agent important to you, and keep asking until you figure it out.
NOTE: If you need help discovering your why, I have an eBook to help on my website titled Discovering Your Why for a few dollars. You can pick it up HERE.
ONE QUOTE
American author Mark Twain, on the importance of finding your “why”:
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
ONE QUESTION
Why do you truly want to be a real estate agent?
If you do not have a deep reason for wanting to be a real estate agent, find a different career because you will not last long. To do anything significant in life, you have to have a passion for it, or you will not survive the challenges that inevitably come with building anything.
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!