Marketing is the number one skill u need to learn in real estate. it truly doesn't matter what the data is in any other form. i dont care about dom, i don't care about the average this or that, i dont even care about the job growth even tho real estate is as good as jobs, heck i dont flipping care about whats trending or not. all the matters is how do sellers and buyers find ME as a lead. a qualified lead. not just someone "curious". omg that word drives me crazy when you get someone who calls you and says "im just curious about what my house is worth". im talking real leads. people who are calling you saying, "man im just done with my house." thats a lead. the psychology and motivation is everything. but it's all about how you spend your money marketing. and yes, this biz requires marketing money. its insane that agents depend on soi, like really? we got ai and your depending on your brother in law to buy a house? it's one of those, "it's 2026 MAN" type of things. the top agents on zillow's agent finder are spending thousands of dollars a month in ad spend and youre depending on free referrals. imagine tellings any of those businesses running ads during the world cup, "hey hey dont do that, just do organic content." 😂 good luck getting any business. i say this because many investors and agents just dont understand that every extra dollar you have after all your bills are paid must going into ad spend. the fastest way to get a deal is switching your mindset to one where you have leads come to you instead of you always going to someone else. cold calling is absolutely dead. sms marketing is dead. seo is dead. you have to play to pay in this world and the best leads are from the internet.