According to NAR’s most recent member profile, 65% of agents have been in business for five years or less.

It’s a large group of agents (900K+) all trying to figure out how to make their real estate business work.

In the first two years, 81% of these agents complete 10 or fewer transactions per year.

By year five, over 50% of these agents are completing 10 or more transactions per year.

In getting to the five-year point, on average, agents affiliates with two brokerages.

Here are a few insights to take away from this data.

New Agent Recruiting: If your strategy is to hire, train, and get new agents productive, your business model will get attacked from both the front end (attrition) and the back end (competitors recruiting newly productive agents away).

You’ll have to commit to the long-term, stay focused, and keep your margins high to make money at this game.

Experienced Agents: If you have a compelling way to help newer struggling agents get above 10 transactions per year, there is much opportunity.

At this point in their career, agents are looking for solutions, willing to try at least two different brokerages, and not quite at the point where they’re demanding outrageous splits/compensation packages.

In both of these arenas, the competition is intense. You’re not the only one who can see where the opportunity exists.

Who wins? Those who are better at recruiting execution and truly deliver on the promise of getting above 10 transactions/year.