If you’re a real estate broker or team leader, I’m sure you’re experiencing what I’m about to describe. I call it the 80/20 rule, and it’s not the 80/20 rule you’re thinking about.

The 80/20 rule we usually think of is that 20% of the agents do 80% of the business. It’s probably closer to a 90/10 rule now, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

What I’m talking about is the 80/20 rule when it comes to the deployment of the technologies, tools, and services you provide to your agents.

As a brokerage owner or team leader, you invest in all this tech and all these tools, and then 80% of your agents don’t use them. You’re spending thousands—maybe tens of thousands—of dollars, and you’re thinking, “This is crazy. Maybe I should just stop providing this stuff.”

That’s a mistake.

First, you have 20% of your people who are actually using these tools, and those are usually the people producing. If you stop providing the tools, you’re hurting that group.

But there’s another reason you shou...

Hey guys, what do you think is the average age of a REALTOR in the United States?

For the 35 years I’ve been in the business, we’ve been hearing—and I was a part of it when I got in at 19—that a whole wave of 20-somethings and 30-somethings would enter the business. We kept hearing that REALTORS were getting younger.

Guess what? The average age of a REALTOR today is still 53 years old.

Yes, we do see some younger people getting in—I was one of them. I have young people working for me, and I’ve got young people working at our companies. But the reality is, the average age is still 53.

Why does this matter when it comes to recruiting and retention?

Because we’ve got to be mindful of how we build out our companies. We’re constantly told to design everything for Gen Z or even Gen Alpha—but that’s not true.

The vast majority of your agents are going to be Gen Xers like me. They’re going to be in their 50s. I’m 55. That’s your actual market.

When you're building out your office, your ...