Help for Real Estate Agents: 21 Problems and Exactly What to Do About Each One
Almost every problem an agent brings me is a different problem underneath. "I need more leads" is usually a database nobody has called in eight months. "My offers keep losing" is usually a cover sheet that never got written. "I'm burned out" is usually a 10 p.m. text you answered once and taught everyone was fine. Each page names the real problem, gives you three moves in the exact words to use, and ends with one thing you can do today in under twenty minutes. No theory, no course, nothing to buy. I'm D.J. Paris, president of sales and marketing at Kale Realty in Chicago and host of the Keeping It Real Podcast, and most of what's on these pages came from almost 700 podcast interviews with top producers.
- Getting business
- Getting deals closed
- This market
- Systems and burnout
- Calling your sphere
- Questions about the library
Getting business
Eight problems that all sound like "I need more leads" and almost never are.
- "I need more leads." You probably don't have a lead problem. You have a database that hasn't heard from you in months, and buying more leads is pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it. Read the fix
- "I need more buyers." Buyers didn't disappear. They went back to renting and nobody followed them. The highest-intent buyer in Chicago is holding a renewal letter right now. Read the fix
- "Not enough listings." Yesterday's expired gets flooded with calls. The one that came off a year ago gets none, and that owner may still want to sell. Read the fix
- "I'm not calling my sphere regularly." It isn't discipline. It's that you have nothing to say, so every call feels like "just checking in," and nobody wants to make that call. Read the fix
- "My past clients aren't sending me referrals." They don't know you want them and they don't know how. Referrals are a skill you teach your clients, and most agents never teach it. Read the fix
- "Leads are falling through the cracks." You don't need a better CRM. You need a smaller one. Cracks come from volume you can't hold, not from missing software. Read the fix
- "My social media needs a strategy." You're posting for strangers who'll never hire you. The people who already follow you are the whole audience, and that changes what you post. Read the fix
- "I'm part-time and can't get to full-time." You're running a full-time agent's system in seven hours a week. Part-timers win with one lead source and a math problem, not a marketing plan. Read the fix
Getting deals closed
Five problems that show up after you already have the client, which is the expensive place to lose.
- "My offers aren't being accepted." The seller isn't reading your offer. The listing agent is sorting it, fast, and sorting it as risky. Price is one line. Everything else on the page is what loses. Read the fix
- "Buyers keep pulling out of my listing's contract." Deals don't die at the inspection. They die in the 48 hours after the report lands, when you're not in the conversation. Read the fix
- "My buyers keep getting cold feet." You never asked them what would make them walk. So the first time they hear their own fear out loud is after inspection, in front of a relative. Read the fix
- "My buyers can't qualify." You're treating "not yet" like "no" and dropping them. The not-yet buyer is the best lead you have, because nobody else is talking to them. Read the fix
- "The commission conversation is a fight now." Stop defending your fee. Ask your buyer what they think you do. Their list will be short. Yours won't be. Read the fix
This market
Three problems everyone blames on rates, and what you can actually do inside them.
- "Rates are too high. Everyone's waiting." The person waiting for rates has pictured themselves alone at an open house the day rates drop. Nobody has told them what that day actually looks like. Read the fix
- "There's nothing for sale for my buyers." You're shopping the same MLS as every other buyer's agent, so you're seeing the same nothing. The house exists. Nobody has asked the owner yet. Read the fix
- "Nobody wants to sell. They're locked into their rate." The rate is on the loan, not on the house. Most of these owners have never seen their own two numbers side by side. Read the fix
Systems and burnout
Four problems that aren't about real estate at all, which is why nobody at your brokerage brings them up.
- "My income is feast or famine." Closing week is the week you stop prospecting, and it's the best prospecting week you'll ever have. Everyone who touched that deal is warm right now. Read the fix
- "I'm drowning in paperwork. I need an assistant." You can't afford one because you haven't fired yourself from the paperwork yet. You hire the role after you've handed off the task, not before. Read the fix
- "I know what to do. I just don't do it." Nobody would notice if you skipped today. That's the whole problem. Every agent who's consistent has someone who'd notice. Read the fix
- "I'm burned out. Clients want me 24/7." Answer one 10 p.m. text and you've told every client 10 p.m. is fine. You can undo that in a week. Read the fix
Calling your sphere
The one thing that fixes more of the list above than anything else, and the one nobody does.
Every agent I've ever talked to about this wanted a new lead source. Almost none of them needed one. They needed to call the people who already know them, and they needed a reason to call that wasn't about real estate. D.J. Paris, Kale Realty
Your problem isn't on this list?
Then tell me what it is. Book a 10-minute broker solution chat and bring the one thing you'd fix about your business if you could only fix one. I'll call you, it's the only thing we'll talk about, and I won't bring up Kale unless you do. If I don't have something useful for you in the first few minutes, I'll say so and give you your time back.
What's in it for me: I recruit agents for Kale Realty, and I'd rather say so than have you wonder. If you ever leave your brokerage, I hope we're your first call. The help is yours either way.
Rather text? 312.238.9796
How this library works
- Pick the sentence that sounds like you. The 21 cards below are written in the words agents actually use, not in categories. Find yours and click it.
- Every page follows the same shape. The real problem, three moves with exact wording, and one thing to do today that takes under twenty minutes.
- It's free and it isn't gated. The whole page is on the page. There's a printable one-pager if you want it, and that one asks for your email.
- You don't have to work at Kale. Most people reading this don't, and I'd rather be useful to you where you are than pitch you.
- Nothing here is a marketing plan. It's what to say and do this week.
Questions about the library
Is this free, and what's the catch?
It's free and the whole thing is on the page. No email wall, no account, no trial. Each page has a printable one-page version you can put on your desk, and that one asks for your first name and email so I can send it to you. You never have to take it. The pages themselves are complete without it.
The honest catch is that I run a brokerage and I hope you think of Kale if you ever move. I'd rather say that plainly than pretend a brokerage publishes free coaching out of pure generosity.
Do I have to work at Kale Realty to use these?
No. Most agents reading these work somewhere else, and that's fine. Nothing on any page requires a Kale login, a Kale tool, or a Kale anything. The advice works at any brokerage in any market, though the examples are Chicago because that's where I work.
Where did this advice actually come from?
Three places. Almost 700 episodes of the Keeping It Real Podcast, where I ask top producers what they actually do. The agents at my own brokerage, who tell me what's breaking in real time. And the cold calls I make to agents at other brokerages, where I ask one question: if you could fix one thing about your business, what would it be? These 21 pages are the 21 answers I heard most.
Which page should I start with if I'm brand new?
Start with calling your sphere, then the lead page. New agents almost always try to buy leads before they've called the people who already know them, and it's the most expensive mistake in the first year. If you're newly licensed and don't feel like you have a sphere yet, you have more of one than you think. The sphere page starts by having you scroll your own phone.
Which page should I start with if I'm already producing?
The referrals page and the income-consistency page. Busy agents usually get repeat and referral business by luck, not by system. The fastest money you'll make is from people you already closed. If closing week is your busiest and least productive week, start with income consistency.
How often do these get updated?
When something changes that makes a page wrong. Numbers are checked before publishing and dated on the page. If one's stale or just wrong, email me at dj@kalerealty.com and I'll fix it and credit you if you want.
Is any of this specific to Illinois?
Some of it, and the pages say so where it matters. In the Chicago area, contracts usually include attorney review, which changes how contract-to-close works. Illinois requires a written brokerage agreement with anyone you represent, and your MLS may require one before you tour a home with a buyer. Where a page touches licensed activity, your managing broker's office policy comes first.
Can I share these with my team or my office?
Please do. Send the link, print the one-pagers, put them in a team meeting, use the scripts word for word. I'd only ask that you don't strip my name off them and republish them as your own, mostly because the numbers get stale and I'd rather be the one who fixes them.
What happens if I book the ten-minute call?
I call you at the time you picked, on the number you give me. We talk about the one problem you brought and nothing else. There's no presentation and no deck, and I won't bring up Kale unless you do. If your problem is one of these 21, I'll give you the version for your market and your deal count instead of the general one.
Why is a brokerage giving away coaching content?
Because I'd rather be useful first and let you decide later. Most brokerage recruiting is a list of features, and none of it tells you whether we'd help. If you never switch, you keep the 21 pages.
Want help picking? Book 10 minutes with D.J. Bring the problem, not a list of questions about Kale.
About this library. Published September 2026. These pages describe sales, prospecting, and business practices for licensed real estate agents. They are general professional guidance, not legal, financial, tax, or career advice, and they are not a substitute for direction from your own managing broker. Office policy at your brokerage takes precedence over anything written here.
Any figures cited are sourced at the point they appear and reflect publicly available information, industry research, and agent reports as of the publication date. Market conditions, association dues, MLS rules, and brokerage practices change. Illinois-specific items, including written brokerage agreement requirements and attorney review, reflect Illinois practice and may not apply in other states. Verify current rules with your managing broker or the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation before acting on anything that touches licensed activity.
Kale Realty reviews and updates these pages periodically. If you believe anything above is inaccurate, email dj@kalerealty.com. Published by Kale Realty, Chicago, Illinois.