$10K to Launch as a New Agent—Highest Leverage Moves?

Question

Long-time investor, new agent. I’m keeping my W-2 for now and getting licensed to control my deals, but I’m open to building a business. I’ve set aside $10,000 to deploy smartly—what early investments (systems, marketing, mentorship, etc.) gave you the highest ROI as a new agent?

For those who’ve done this well: where would you deploy $10k in year one to build real momentum?

Not looking for shiny objects, interested in compounding moves (skills, systems, relationships).

Brandon Vukelich · Answer

- A decent CRM that you control, not the brokerage.

- A simple website, personalized domain, professional email address (not gmail, yahoo, etc).

- Approx $300-400/mo in farming a very specific niche you'd like to target such as duplex owners or waterfront listings or whatever.

- Buy/read the following books: Never Split the Difference, The Rockstar Real Estate Agent Roadmap, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent.

- Since you are an investor or have a lot of investing experience, consider paying to be a BP Preferred agent for your area. The prices are based on area and bundles, so I can't give an est monthly amount.

- Budget for hosting 12-20 people VIP happy hour/networking events, avoid major holidays.

- Subscribe to automated gifting, card mailing systems like MailboxPower and auto local market campaigns for your sphere like Altos Research.

SKIP: Zillow/Realtor/etc. leads, BNI groups, many other online "lead" services promising to send you quality/motivated buyer/seller leads.

Best wishes on your success!

Abel Curiel · Answer

Hello Jason,1. Spend about $50-100 on books: David Greene's RE agent books; Millionaire Real Estate agent by Gary Keller; Hyper local, hyper fast agent by Dan Lesniak; Gary Vee books related to marketing; a few other good ones out there2. FREE: Schedule with agents in your market and other markets to pick their brains. Plenty of people here on BP. 3. Prop tech subscription i.e. attom data, prop stream, etc. ~ $150/month. Gives you tons of property information at your fingertips. Especially helpful since some MLS listings are incomplete and dont tell a property's full story4. Consider hiring a VA to assist with something starting at about 10 hrs/week @ about $8/hour... this would be about $300-350/month. Different schools of thought on this. Some people would say hire immediately and find things for the VA to do. Others would suggest getting yourself set up for the first few months, jot down a list of things you need help with or hate doing (i.e. updating your CRM, paperwork, marketing graphics/material, pre-screening potential clients or leads, etc.)5. Consider joining a local BNI, toastmasters, or something similar. Membership rates vary but would likely be in the $100-$300/mo range.

6. FREE: contact everyone in your sphere of influence to let them know you're open to answer any RE related questions, service referrals, etc.All the best!

Abel

Abel Curiel · Answer

@Jason DeMauro with respect to navigating brokerages, they will all offer something different than the next i.e. commission split, monthly fees, tech platforms, etc. Like any other relationship , you wont really know what you're getting until you've been together for a bit. ask questions related to Whatever is important to you (leads, support, CRM, systems, etc). speak with multiple brokerages so you can compare notes and get a feel for who has what you're looking for. my company is virtual and nationwide so I'd be happy to chat about that as well.

Alexandra Hughes Pailet · Answer

Glad you enjoyed seeing Chris Voss at BPCON2025! Do you have any keynote suggestions for BPCON2026?

Also, BPCON2026 tickets are live with early bird pricing! We'd love to see you there.

Bo Smith · Answer

Smart move keeping the W-2 while you build. One thing I see new agents mess up - they blow money on marketing before they can even handle leads properly. I'd drop $2-3k on systems that actually convert (CRM, skip tracing, dialer) before spending anything on lead gen. You can generate all the leads you want but if you're not following up consistently, you're just burning cash. What's your game plan for actually staying on top of leads once they start rolling in?

Jason DeMauro · Answer

Thanks Abel, I will check those books out. I have a (not so) small BP library, but not these. I hear you on the reaching out to agents in the area, I am at the point where I feel this is the next step. Any recommendations in navigating brokerages and outlining my approach to the market?

Jason DeMauro · Answer

Simon Sinek, James Clear, Ed Mylett, Matthew Syed, Seth Godin are a few that quickly come to mind.

Jason DeMauro · Answer

Thanks for your response Bo. I have a VA that I have worked with while investing that can easily be coached up to support this new venture. I will need to put some thought into systems so as not to burn that cash.

Jason DeMauro · Answer

Thanks Don. I was primarily thinking residential, it is what I know. But the market that I invested in is different than the market I would be an agent. One of my requests of a brokerage would be a place to learn commercial aspects.

$10K to Launch as a New Agent—Highest Leverage Moves?

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