I’m an envious bastard.

There are a few (several) agents in my market that consistently sell more than me, and a couple of them have continued to grow and sell more despite my plateauing.

They’re good at what they do and they spend a lot of time and money in their businesses. I admire them, I know most of them fairly well. Still, when I see their success, it doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy.

Real estate is a zero-sum game. When they win, I lose. The notion that “there’s enough to go around for everyone” seems to have never been less true than it is right now. We have low inventory, a glut of agents, and few buyers that are willing and able to buy.

I used to hear that though: “There’s enough for everyone,” and I would feel reassured. I remember when I first got into the business in early 2018 and my then-broker would talk about what it was like in a down market. She made the comment that they always made sure there was enough for everyone, but that they all had to tighten their belts a little.¹

I’m not sure there’s going to be enough for everyone. I’m a pretty scrappy dude when push comes to shove. I have a somewhat trying upbringing and the Marine Corps to thank for that. But I expect that a lot of agents are going to struggle in the next few years—myself included.

Nationally, there are almost 7,000 fewer agents² than there were at the end of 2022. But if you look back to August of 2022, there are almost 19,000 fewer.³

So people are getting out. For people who sell real estate who sell more than 10 deals per year, this is a good thing.

Why? You might think that it doesn’t make any difference if Janice stops selling real estate because she has a history of consistently selling 2-3 houses per year.

But what you may not have considered, is that Janice and all the other Janices out there are gobbling up the ones and twos, the here’s and the there’s, that you and the other top-producing agents would be listing and selling.

While they may not be on your radar, they ought to be in this regard. They’re eating up deals.

I’m still a pretty competitive person, whether I like it or not, and I don’t like seeing other people succeed. I’d like to though. It’s an intention. But I think this is still too primal for me. I’m 33 and have four kids and my wife’s home raising them. I’m competing with retired 65-year-old women who are married, don’t need to work, happen to know everyone, decide to get their license and they take off like a bat out of hell, for example.

I’m out for blood, man. I hate seeing them win. Makes me work harder.

It’s a weakness, a character defect of mine. And even though it’s not the type of motivation I aspire to be inspired by, it’s motivation nonetheless.

1. For context, they were charging me and most agents there between 35%-%50% of every commission we earned. That’s not to mention that she was married to a doctor and co-owned the firm. I eventually left and went where I could make more money. ↩︎
2. REALTORS®, with the numbers based on NAR‘s statistics. These numbers do not factor in licensees who are not REALTOR® members. ↩︎
3. NAR – August Monthly Membership Report ↩︎