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The ONE Thing You Need to Succeed in Real Estate in 2026 · The Real Estate Agent Playbook

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  most agents will not survive 2026
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  and it's not going to be because
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  we're losing deals to AI
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  or we don't have the right systems in place or
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  you know the market or anything like that
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  the truth is most agents will not survive 2026
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  if they don't make this one adjustment
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  in their relationships
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  that can take them to the next level
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  let's chat about this so
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  as you know I'm Jeremy Kane
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  I've sold some homes in my day
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  and at now I coach agents across all the boards
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  and the truth is
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  I had to figure out what my zone of genius was
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  and after a long time
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  and after figuring it out and dealing with it
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  I realized that one of my biggest strengths
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  is managing those relationships
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  and connecting people
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  to the people that actually matter
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  so what's the one thing you need to do in 2026
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  to ensure that you are in the business in 2027
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  it's actually care about people
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  from a position of helping them
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  no matter what it is
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  even if it's not selling or not buying
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  but in general
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  just caring about people will take it a long way
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  let's break this down as we see every single day
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  there's the fear mongering of AI replacing so many jobs
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  and real estate agents are absolutely
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  on the chopping block when it comes to this
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  the truth is AI
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  will take a small portion of the business year by year
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  and eventually it may be possible
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  but here's the deal
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  the biggest transaction of people's lives right
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  the biggest transfer of wealth
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  all of the things have to do with real estate
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  and the truth is is that you're not sitting here
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  you know
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  managing your financial solutions with entry level AI
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  you look to an expert you want somebody in your corner
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  that does it every single day
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  that's there right
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  the expert is not the the solution
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  the care is the solution caring about those clients
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  and having them reach out for advice
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  not that they're you know
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  just getting a canned response from the internet
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  that's scouring the market or whatever
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  but an actual compassionate human on the other end
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  and this is across the board
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  no matter what industry you're in
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  especially in the business industry
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  the higher higher purchase points
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  you need to understand exactly what your clients want
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  and need so that you can care for them appropriately
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  right and sometimes it's surface level
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  sometimes it's like hey
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  I wanna sell the house one of my biggest attributes is
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  I go to a listing appointment
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  with just a couple things in hand
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  no CMA nothing else
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  but my only sole goal is to hear what the client
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  whether it's a buyer or a seller
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  actually wants done how they feel
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  why they're doing it and what their next steps are
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  are key factors in building trust
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  when it comes to these clients
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  and the truth
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  is is that AI is built to make you happy right
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  anything you say they're like
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  oh yeah that's a great idea
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  and then they spit something out and you say
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  that's not what I meant and they're like
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  oh yeah I I knew that right
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  I see that now and they spit something else out
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  AI is a powerful tool but it does not have the empathy
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  and the care for people's
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  unique situations
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  especially when it comes to real estate
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  in a little bit difficult market
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  that we can capitalize on
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  as professionals in this industry
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  so what does caring actually mean
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  sometimes it means not you know
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  pushing them to put their house on the market
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  recently
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  I had a client who I've dealt with a long time
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  and I know exactly their situation right
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  I know where they wanna be
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  I know what they like to do
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  I know their lifestyle well
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  they had a kid right
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  and their lifestyle and stuff they were like
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  this is a little bit too busy of a street
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  little bit too busy of an urban area
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  for us to have a kid out there riding bikes
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  and I said to them yes
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  we can make this happen
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  but what happens if we hold on to this
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  because in 16 years when that kiddo is you know
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  up and Adam and out of the house
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  you're gonna want this house right here
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  that you live in and the truth is
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  it's probably gonna be a lot more expensive
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  at that time so what do we need to do right
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  let's look at options and this client
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  actually has not transacted at this time
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  but they they are now looking at options like oh yeah
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  maybe we don't want to sell this house
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  what do we have to do to you know
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  have the lifestyle we want for the next 10 to 15 years
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  and still hold on to this asset
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  that's going to be worth a lot more
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  that we actually will want to live in
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  we will want to retire in
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  cause we're not going anywhere
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  we're natives but this is the lifestyle we need
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  because we all know when you're moving from
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  you know a super hot
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  you know area
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  and you're moving to a little bit more suburban area
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  or whatever it is
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  you know
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  there's a chance that one day when you wanna move back
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  that that home that you owned is out of reach
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  financially and so
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  you have these conversations and you get to know the
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  these people along the way
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  and this was
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  I had a little bit of a leg up on this one
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  but it absolutely made a difference in their decision
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  and their decision
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  at this point has been to hold onto it
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  figure out how to hold onto it
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  and I have no doubt that when the time comes
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  when they're able to purchase in a
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  you know more
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  comfortable area for them
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  and how they want to raise their family
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  that maybe they hold on to
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  this diamond in the rough
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  that they bought for a crazy amount of low
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  low and now is worth much
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  much more and as we kind of work through this
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  you can demonstrate the care
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  for actually digging deeper
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  than not just being like okay
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  you wanna list your house
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  here's the documents please sign them before I leave
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  cause I don't wanna lose you
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  and I'm put a sign in the yard
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  and we're off to the next
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  you have to understand the life cycle of a client
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  and if you don't know them or you don't
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  you know you're just meeting them for the first time
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  you can very easily demonstrate your ability
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  to care at a deeper level
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  by just simply asking them questions
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  what's your plan
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  what's your plan after the kiddos aren't you know
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  out of the house what's this look like
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  and you can start to be an advisor
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  that they build trust in because you care
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  so the truth is as agents 2026 isn't about you know
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  more hustle and getting more clients and doing
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  doing all the things it's about building a true
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  database of people that you can pour into
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  that they know that you actually care right
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  it's about having a higher standard
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  it's about being more relational and less transactional
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  and I'm here to tell you that I talk to agents
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  all the time
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  that have to sell houses to put food on the table
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  and the truth is
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  is that this is definitely a long term
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  you know process
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  if I had a dollar for every time people said
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  well Jeremy you have a huge sphere and you know
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  it's it's easy to you because your phone just rings
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  well my phone just rings
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  not because I went to high school here
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  and elementary school here and college an hour away
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  but my phone rings because people know
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  that I'm going to properly educate them
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  and get to know exactly what their goals are
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  to make sure that we make the right moves
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  because building
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  wealth through real estate is absolutely awesome
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  I've done it personally
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  I've helped hundreds of people do it
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  you know in business but the truth is
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  is that building wealth
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  is a very fine line in real estate
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  and if we're very transactional
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  and we're not forward thinking
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  that's when things come to a head
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  if you're looking at it and you're asking
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  you know what could I sell my house for
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  and what could I do here and what
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  you know what's my monthly payment gonna be
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  if you're asking the computer that
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  it's just gonna spit out information
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  that they're gonna be like
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  okay cool
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  like
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  so my idea works like what agent should I call right
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  because now now the AI is the uh
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  trusted source and next thing you know
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  the house is on the market and you
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  they don't even know anything
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  you know
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  happened until 15 years down the road and they're like
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  OK cool I need to go back to my AI and say hey
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  I wanna get in this neighborhood how do I do it
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  and they can't do it right
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  because maybe this neighborhood scaled
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  and maybe it didn't or whatever
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  or maybe it fell off
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  and they don't wanna live there anymore
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  that's all the keys
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  but if you hold the title to the home
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  when those things start to happen
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  and you're a trusted agent
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  that's helping them through that
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  and keeping an eye on the market
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  and seeing what that looks like
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  there's gonna be opportunities to grow wealth
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  with this house or this house as they go
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  and so honestly
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  it's just about figuring out what the goals are
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  and what they need
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  and then stepping back and not being quick
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  not being like okay
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  this is next step stager is coming
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  this is what's going on
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  and thinking about the bigger picture
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  because the bigger picture that you can think about
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  and be a couple steps ahead of where they're going
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  right it's sales all day long
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  but it's a little bit different
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  cause it's not pushy sales
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  if you're a couple steps ahead
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  and you bring up this idea and you say
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  we can still do this but what if we do it this way
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  game over they're not going
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  to AI for anything that comes real estate
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  they're calling you and so that's
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  that's the reason why we do this
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  and why slowing down to speed up is absolutely key
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  because then what happens
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  then people see that they are growing real estate right
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  at a high level and they're saying okay
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  like what happened here
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  and maybe someone calls them and says you know
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  we're right where you are
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  and we have a kiddo and we wanna make a move
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  and they're like oh
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  you need to call Jeremy right
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  stop right there
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  call Jeremy he can build out a strategy
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  he can build out a plan
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  that's actually gonna protect you
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  and yes get you everything you want in the end
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  but maybe a little bit smarter
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  maybe a little bit harder
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  but definitely more beneficial in the end
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  so who doesn't need an acronym right
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  and this one's pretty easy we're gonna call it care
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  first and foremost
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  we need to consult and not convince consulting them
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  understanding what their goals are
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  and then going in there let's be real
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  corporations pay millions upon millions of dollars
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  for people to come in and consult
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  because they have their knowledge
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  but the consultant can't just go in there and be like
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  okay this is exactly how it is
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  and push their plan on the corporation
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  they need to assess
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  they need to understand the goals and the vision
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  and then they need to step back and build a plan
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  and that's where the consultants earn the big bucks
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  cause if they're like okay
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  I'm a consultant
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  this is how you do it here you go then it's game over
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  hmm what's that sound like
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  I don't know maybe a managing broker that says hey
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  you have to go door knocker
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  you have to go do open houses
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  you have to cold call cause that's how I did it
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  or that's how this person did it
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  the truth is is agents we can't
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  we can't do exactly what we don't like
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  and what we push away on that side
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  so C is for consult don't convince a
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  we're gonna advise long term or short term
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  but we are going to be an advisor
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  we are going to say this is my thought on this
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  how's this look right we are gonna develop a roadmap
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  we're gonna pave a road for them to absolutely
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  reach their goals and it might not be immediate
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  and as an agent you have to realize when they're like
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  nope we just need it gone
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  we need to do that cause I'm not sitting there saying
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  okay well
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  you haven't made a mortgage payment in six months
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  like let's let's sit down and have a kumbaya moment no
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  no no no
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  that's not what I'm saying like as an advisor
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  you need to understand what that looks like
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  what the situations are
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  and what we need to do to take that next step
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  the next is relationships over revenue
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  this is one that comes up a ton
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  especially right now right agents
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  you know talking about commission
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  I will not work for less because I do these 150 things
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  no
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  we need to understand that relationships beat revenue
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  all day if you know a
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  a seller isn't willing to pay
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  you know a half a percent or a whole percent uh
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  to the buyer's agent
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  we're like stomping our foot and saying nope
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  like we have to get it from the seller
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  we have to get it from the buyer
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  how's that building relationship right
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  it's not so let's have a conversation with your buyer
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  hey you know
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  we agreed to this you know commission
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  but the seller's not willing to pay it like
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  you know we
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  we thought they might and
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  but here's the deal like I'm willing to do this
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  cause it's most important to me because on your journey
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  on your path
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  it's important for me to get you into a home okay
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  and I'm not gonna stand in the way right
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  if I'm standing in the way
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  and I maybe put a
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  stop sign in the transaction altogether
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  or I say hey
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  like this let's work this out
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  let your friends know that I'm actually
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  you know caring about getting into a home
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  well
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  me losing that 15 or 2000 dollars on a half a percent
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  or you know
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  them referring me
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  endless amounts of clients that are in their
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  same position I mean
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  that's a no brainer
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  when you really step back and look at it
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  $2,000 or a 20 thousand dollar commission next month
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  when you know
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  their best friend is in the same position
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  and buy a house like
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  we have to think about this logically
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  and we have to always put relationships over revenue
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  and the final one my favorite
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  extend beyond closing right
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  we have to continue to help and advise
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  beyond the closing yes
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  I understand you're not under contract
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  but if we are an advisor
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  and we can maintain a relationship
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  think about it with buyers right
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  here's the situation with buyers
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  they just purchased a half a million dollar house
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  this is an asset probably the largest that they own
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  or at least the largest lump sum of money
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  that grows on the whole amount
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  versus just what they put into it
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  heck they could put no
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  no money into it
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  if it's a VA loan or down payment assistance
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  but they're still building appreciation
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  in addition to principal buy down on that home
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  can we make bad decisions
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  especially if we're in that low
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  low down payment could we
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  you know get ourselves into a situation
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  where we've painted a house
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  our favorite color of pink and
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  you know
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  something happens in life where we have to unload that
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  yes well
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  that makes it a little higher
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  harder
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  if it's a special color of pink and we have to list it
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  for top dollar
• 14:15
  you thought you were gonna be there for 30 years
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  but the truth is you're not
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  and so as we kind of push through this
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  extending beyond closing
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  and being a resource is absolutely critical right
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  yes the asset is one piece
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  but what happens if they're like
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  hey Jeremy
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  we're new to the area what's the best restaurant
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  where should we go on date night
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  where should we you know
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  take our dog to get their nails trimmed
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  all these things
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  and the more that you are able to be a resource
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  you have a connection you have a guy
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  you have a gal for every single piece
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  then you become more than just a real estate agent
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  you become an advisor to them
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  and a real piece of their life
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  and what's gonna happen when someone says hey
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  you know we're looking to buy or sell a house
• 14:59
  they're gonna say oh
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  I got a guy or gal for that
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  and they're gonna refer you or me
• 15:04
  but that's that's how
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  how this kind of plays out
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  so we wanna turn every transaction into five 10
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  15 transactions through the life of that relationship
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  so that we can extend our business
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  and your phone rings
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  versus having to go chase a lead down or
• 15:19
  you know make your calls or pound the phone
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  or pound the pavement
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  or record your videos or whatever it is
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  yes continue doing those things
• 15:27
  we always want new business
• 15:28
  and new relationships
• 15:29
  but if you manage that one new relationship
• 15:31
  the right way eventually
• 15:33
  you won't have to do those things
• 15:34
  that seem so daunting to you
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  to build your business
• 15:37
  so 2026 will reward those agents who build trust
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  not noise not hype
• 15:44
  not automation but actual trust
• 15:47
  the cool part is
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  if you build an automation in the background
• 15:50
  that reminds you to reach out to these people
• 15:53
  the trust level only goes up
• 15:55
  and so if you are ultra organized
• 15:57
  and you have that opportunity
• 15:59
  that's great check out my next YouTube video on a
• 16:03
  CRM solution that I have come across
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  that's absolutely incredible
• 16:08
  but for now just focus on care consult
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  advise relationships and extend beyond the closing
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  we'll see you next time