Life At Ten Tenths

The best defense against bad information isn’t finding something you can blindly trust.

It’s strengthening your own ability to think.

We have a responsibility to take ownership of our decision-making. Whether the information comes from another person, the internet, or AI, we still have to decide what to do with it.

Ask more questions.

Does this make sense?

Does this actually sound like me?

Does this feel right for the person or situation I’m dealing with?

Matt gave a great example of this with something as simple as writing an email.

He was using AI to help draft an email and gave it the ideas he wanted to communicate. It produced something that probably would have worked.

But when he read it, his reaction was basically: *That doesn’t feel right to me.*

So he rewrote the entire email himself.

Then he put his version back into AI and used it for what it can be incredibly good at: reviewing the email, catching errors, and helping clean it up.

That distinction matters.

AI didn’t decide what Matt wanted to say or how he wanted to communicate with another human being. Matt did.

He knew the person receiving the email. He understood the relationship, the context, and what he believed would resonate.

AI became a tool to support his thinking rather than a substitute for it.

That’s an important line to protect as these tools become more capable.

Use AI to gather information. Use it to challenge your thinking. Use it to organize ideas, catch mistakes, and help you see something you might have missed.

But don’t outsource the part that requires your judgment.

The final decision still needs to be yours.

We get stuck on the idea that our job is always to sell a home for “top dollar.”

But what does top dollar actually mean for *this* seller?

The best price the open market will bear might be the goal. But every seller has a different situation, different resources, and different priorities.

Maybe they have the money and time to make repairs, stage the home, and prepare it perfectly for the market.

Maybe they don’t.

Maybe speed matters more. Maybe convenience matters. Maybe they simply don’t have the cash to do anything to the property before selling.

That’s where our skill as real estate professionals should show up.

Matt recently asked listing agents whether they walk sellers through instant-offer options as part of the listing process. The responses were all over the board. Some basically said, “Why would I ever do that?” Others said they do it regularly.

And one response made a great point: sometimes having that offer actually helps illustrate the value of going to the open market.

Here’s the instant-offer option. Here are the fees, convenience, timeline, and expected proceeds.

Here’s the traditional-market option. Here’s what we believe we can accomplish, what it requires from you, and what the tradeoffs look like.

Now the seller can make an informed decision based on what they’re actually trying to accomplish.

And it raises a bigger question for us as agents:

**How good are we at selling around the things that aren’t ideal?**

We'd all love the perfectly updated home. Fresh paint. Beautiful staging. Everything spotless.

But real estate doesn't always arrive gift-wrapped.

Sometimes the property has problems. Sometimes the seller has constraints. Sometimes the best solution isn't the textbook version of how we'd like a listing to look.

Our value isn't simply knowing how to market the easy ones.

It's understanding the seller's actual situation, laying out the available options, explaining the tradeoffs, and having the skill to help them succeed even when the circumstances aren't ideal.

And yes, clean the floors.

Just don't eat off them.

A lowball offer is still an offer.

If a buyer takes the time to put something in writing, they’re expressing real interest in the property. Meanwhile, everyone who drove by, clicked through the photos, went to the open house, or saw the listing online and did nothing has essentially said, “I’m not interested at that price.”

Yet sellers will sometimes get furious at the one person who actually stepped forward.

Imagine applying that same frustration to everyone who didn’t write an offer.

Standing in the front yard yelling, “Really? You’re just going to drive by and NOT make an offer?”

It sounds ridiculous, but it makes the point.

You don’t have to accept a low offer. You don’t even have to end up with a deal. But especially in this market, you should probably take the buyer seriously and actively negotiate.

Because there’s another piece to this that matters right now: figuring out market value has become harder.

Agents and sellers can look at the active competition and collectively decide, “Yep, we’re priced right.” But what if all of those active listings are too high?

We can reinforce each other’s opinions all day long. “Your price looks good.” “Mine looks good too.” “We just need to be patient.”

Then a real buyer, with real money, puts a real offer on the table.

Maybe they’re simply trying to get a deal and starting low.

But maybe they’re telling you something about market value that the active listings haven’t revealed yet.

That doesn’t mean you automatically accept their number. It means you don’t get offended and tell them to go pound sand.

Step back. Look at the offer objectively. Find out what’s happening on the other side. Counter it. Negotiate it.

An offer isn’t an insult.

It’s information.

And in a changing market, that information may be more valuable than we realize.

Change spurs growth.

It sounds simple, but it explains why so many of us resist change in the first place.

Change disrupts our comfort level. It forces us to adapt to a new environment, a new challenge, or a new way of doing things. And whether that change is something we chose or something that was forced upon us, it creates an opportunity for growth.

Matt made a great point: when you embrace a change instead of simply fighting against it, it can foster positive developments, even when what you're going through is difficult.

You change environments. You make an adjustment. Something big happens.

Suddenly, the things that worked before don't necessarily work anymore. You have to think differently. Respond differently. Maybe even become a slightly different version of yourself to meet what's in front of you.

That's uncomfortable.

But that's also where growth happens.

We naturally want to protect what's familiar, especially when life or business feels good. But comfort and growth don't always occupy the same space.

So when change shows up, whether you invited it in or it kicked down the door, it might be worth asking a different question.

Instead of only asking, "How do I get things back to the way they were?"

Ask, "What is this requiring me to learn, change, or become?"

Sometimes the disruption itself is what moves us forward.

The best working relationships aren’t built on a perfect job description. They’re built on genuine trust, respect, and a shared investment in each other’s success.

Andrea Tuell describes the relationship she has built with her assistant in a way that goes far beyond simply delegating tasks.

Her assistant genuinely wants Andrea to be successful. And Andrea genuinely cares about her assistant’s business, family, livelihood, and future.

That mutual investment changes everything.

It allows Andrea to say, “You’ve got this. I totally trust you. I believe in you.”

And with that trust comes something else that’s incredibly important: **permission to make mistakes.**

Amber (Director of Operations) admits that she used to carry the belief that if she messed something up, it was the biggest thing in the world. But she’s learned that very few things are truly irreversible.

You can fix something.

You can apologize.

You can learn from it.

You can do it differently next time.

People make mistakes. It’s okay.

That mindset creates room for someone to actually take ownership instead of constantly worrying about whether they’re going to get something wrong.

And there’s another side to this relationship that matters just as much.

Amber doesn’t simply care about what she can do for Andrea. She cares about her success, her family, her kids, her livelihood, and what she’s building for the future.

As Amber put it, being able to play a part in that growth is flattering, and she takes that responsibility very seriously.

Maybe that’s the bigger lesson in building a great team:

**Trust gets a lot easier when both people genuinely want the other person to win.**

Real estate can be a tough business, especially in those first few years.

But there’s some pretty encouraging data for the people willing to stick with it.

According to the NAR Profile of Members referenced in our conversation, agents who have been in the business for two years or less typically do around $3.3 million in transaction volume.

That’s not bad for your first couple of years.

But look at what happens with experience.

Agents who have been in the business for 6 to 15 years averaged around $17.6 million in transaction volume.

That’s a pretty dramatic difference.

Of course, statistics don't determine what any individual agent will accomplish. But they reinforce something Matt and I have seen after years of helping people build their businesses:

If you stick around and build the right way, this business tends to get better.

You gain experience. You become better at navigating difficult situations. Your relationships deepen. More people know what you do. More people have experienced working with you. Your reputation has more time to compound.

And year after year, all of that begins working in your favor.

So when you're staring at today's numbers and wondering whether you're doing enough, don't let a snapshot convince you that it represents your future.

Pay attention to the numbers, but don't become consumed by them.

Focus on becoming better at what you do. Keep building relationships. Keep showing up. Keep becoming the professional people think of when they need help.

The business can get better and better every single year.

Generic market stats probably aren't going to change your business.

But **personalized market information might.**

Instead of posting another graphic about median sales price or days on market, what if you reached out to a past client and said:

*"Hey, I was doing some research and noticed your subdivision has absolutely crushed it this year compared to the surrounding neighborhoods. Thought you'd want to know."*

It's simple. It's relevant. And most importantly, **it's specific to them.**

Do this consistently with 50 people in your database and something starts to happen.

More conversations.
More conversations about real estate.
More opportunities for referrals.

The goal isn't just to **share information**.

It's to share information that gives you a reason to have a conversation.

What are the free throws of your real estate business?

The best athletes in the world don't become great by only practicing the highlight plays. They become great because they relentlessly master the fundamentals.

Michael Jordan didn't become Michael Jordan by avoiding free throws. He practiced them over and over because he knew they'd decide games.

The same is true in real estate.

Ask yourself:

What's the one fundamental that, if you mastered it, would consistently improve your business no matter what the market is doing?

For us, the answer is simple:

Market Impact Reports.

They're the free throws of the real estate industry.

They keep you in front of your database.
They create conversations instead of waiting for opportunities.
They demonstrate expertise without feeling salesy.
And they continue working whether the market is hot, cold, or somewhere in between.

When everything else feels uncertain, the fundamentals are what keep the scoreboard moving.

Don't overlook the simple things because they're simple.

Master them because they work.

🎙️ Hear the full conversation on the latest episode of the Life at Ten Tenths Podcast.

Most marketing doesn't fail because it isn't good.

It fails because people expect the wrong result.

You're probably not going to send a postcard and have someone call saying, "I got your mailer and I'm ready to list my house."

What does happen is much quieter.

Someone asks you a real estate question at the coffee shop.
A neighbor introduces you as "their Realtor."
A friend thinks of you the moment someone mentions buying or selling.

Those tiny moments are the scoreboard.

They're proof that you've earned mental real estate long before someone needs real estate.

Consistency isn't about getting an immediate "yes."

It's about becoming the obvious choice when the timing is finally right.

💬 What's one small marketing activity you've been consistent with that paid off months later?