What I Wish I Had Known Before My First Two Years in Real Estate
Starting out with an eight-month-old and a lot of determination
I got licensed in 2022. Juniper was eight months old. I was running on new-mom energy and the particular kind of determination that comes from deciding to build something for your family while also keeping a tiny human alive.
I joined a team at a large brokerage because that is what made sense at the time. I needed training and structure and I got both. Those two years taught me how to do this work.
But they also locked in some assumptions I did not know I was making. About what a brokerage relationship should look like. About how much of my commission was reasonable to give away. About what growing a business was supposed to feel like.
The assumptions I would have questioned sooner
I assumed that giving away 30 to 40 percent of my commissions was just the cost of being in this business. I did not question it.
I assumed that the only path to higher volume was more hours and more hustle. I did not question that either.
I assumed that real estate was an inherently solo, competitive profession where people protected what was working for them rather than sharing it. Mostly because that was the environment I was in.
All three of those assumptions turned out to be wrong, or at least, wrong about what was possible if I found the right structure.
What I would tell a newer agent now
The brokerage you start with does not have to be the brokerage you stay with. It is worth evaluating the split structure every year and asking honestly whether you are getting what you are paying for.
The community you are in matters more than you think. Being around people who share what is working without gatekeeping changes your ceiling.
In 2025 I moved to eXp Realty, joined Powerhouse, and sold $12 million while paying $16,000 total to my brokerage. I am on track to do the same in 2026. That did not happen because I worked harder. It happened because I stopped operating inside structures that were costing me more than they were giving me.
If you are a few years in and something feels off, that feeling is information. I am happy to talk through what a different path might look like.