Brittany Dawn Fields explains why 60% of real estate agents close zero deals yearly. She outlines a four-step fix: adopt a creative-deal mindset, learn alternative structures like subject-to deals and lease options, recycle dead leads by matching them with buyers, and diversify income through partnerships and finder fees.
Did you know that 60% of real estate agents don't close a single deal all year? That means that more than half of the industry is basically paying dues to stay broke. It's not because they don't work hard, it's because they're missing out on deals that a lot of agents never even think of. So in this video, I'm going to show you real ways to make money as a real estate agent, even if the market feels slow, your seller has no equity, or they can't qualify for a loan. But first, you need to change your mindset about deals. Step 1: Change your mindset. But what if I told you that there's a whole other set of transactions out there that can help you close more deals, close them quicker, and solve problems with real solutions, and everyone walks away happy? If you've been an agent for any amount of time, you know that there's no such thing as the perfect deal. So stop chasing it. What if you could structure the transaction in a way that solves the seller's need, is a little bit outside of the box, and the buyer walks away happy, but it's kind of creative? I bet it'd be something you'd be interested in hearing, right? Matter of fact, I'm going to teach you how to take someone else's dead lead and turn it into a successful sale. So that brings us to our first transaction. Type called subject-to deals. Section 2: Subject-to deals. Let's start with one of my favorites and one of the more unique solutions. It's called subject-to. Subject-to is when the buyer purchases a property, the deed transfers over into the buyer's name, but the mortgage does stay in the seller's name. Again, it's more about being flexible than scammy. In fact, this works best when a seller is struggling to make payments, they may be facing foreclosure, or they need to sell now but they don't have any equity. Here's why it's valuable: buyers get to buy a home without qualifying for a mortgage, sellers get to walk away and really be relieved of the burden instantly. In some cases, The sellers even get cash. That's great, but how do you benefit if someone else is paying their mortgage? That's the beauty of it. By finding these deals and bringing them to qualified buyers such as myself, you're able to get your commission paid. We're also willing to pay you a finder's fee if it's not something that you personally have under contract, but you know it would be a good fit. So story time, just to drive my point home. I had a situation where the sellers were getting divorced. They had no equity in their home. Because they were both living in other homes, they needed to sell their home fast. They were on the hook for that mortgage payment every month, and it was a weight hanging over their head. Unfortunately, with the way that the market is right now, they weren't able to find a traditional buyer. All of the offers resulted in them having to pay out of pocket in order to get out of the house because they had no equity. We were able to come in and offer a real solution for them. We catch up your arrears, we make the payments from now on, and in turn you sell us the house. It was a win-win. Everybody was happy. Now, if you're hearing this and you think, I need more information, check out my other videos where I do a deep dive on the subject. All right, that brings us to our next type of transaction, and it's one that you've probably heard of. It's called owner carry. Owner carry. Now, for those of you who haven't heard of it, owner carry is when the seller acts like the bank and finances the buyer directly. Payments are made directly to them. Many of my sellers like this because it moves them from the bottom of the totem pole as homeowner to the top of the totem pole as a bank. So what's a situation where you would want to use this in? The ideal situation is when the seller owns their home free and clear, or nearly free and clear, and they don't need 100% of their cash up front. Now, if they're still looking for, say, 50% or 25% of their cash up front, we're still able to work with them. That's the beauty of it. We're able to be flexible and adapt. I've had situations where the seller was looking to retire. They didn't care so much about the money up front, but they wanted monthly income. We were able to structure a lower down payment in exchange for larger monthly payments. On the flip side, I've also had sellers who needed more money up front in order to get into a new home. In those cases, we were able to structure a higher down payment in exchange for lower monthly payments. But regardless, it's a win-win. The seller gets a chunk of cash and they also get monthly payments. In some cases, they're also earning interest. So their money is compounding over time. Buyers love it because it's easy to qualify and much more flexible. Sellers love it because it's flexible and they earn more money over time. Now, owner finance is extremely popular right now, so if you're able to position yourself as the agent who does these types of transactions, you'll go extremely far. This brings us to category 4, lease options and wraps. Now, what is a lease option or a wrap? A lease option gives the buyer a chance to purchase the home later. This is great for people who maybe don't have the best credit or don't have the down payment necessary. A wrap is when the existing mortgage stays in place but a new loan gets added on top of it. Now, I'm not going to go into depth with these, but I will say that my husband and I do a fair amount of these transactions, and this is a good way for you to help those buyers that are coming to you who maybe don't qualify. And that brings us to Section 5, other income streams. There are a lot of other ways to make money. For example, you could partner with an investor like myself and my husband. We go in on a deal together and split the profits. Additionally, you could work with an investor like us. We pay referral fees when someone brings us a lease option buyer or a deal, whether it be subject to or owner carry. Additionally, you could collaborate on content with someone like an investor or another agent. You get to build your reputation, hopefully bring in leads, while also earning money from the platform. So here's the key takeaway: if you're struggling to close deals, it all comes back to step 1: change your mindset. The agent who is able to think creatively and outside the box closes more deals and earns more referral fees. In fact, these agents don't worry about the market, they create their own market. Follow me for more tips on creative deals and strategies that actually make you money.
