The 13% Podcast

Lance Billingsley

Why do 87% of real estate agents fail? After decades in the business, we think we've found the answer: Real estate gives us the freedom and flexibility to build the life we want… Yet if we don't have boldness, patience, integrity and the discipline to follow the right priorities, we're guaranteed to be in the 87% that fail. Our character must show up in our EFFORT. So we're sharing how to take on the mentality of the top 13%, become the person you're meant to be, and earn a great living in the process! Thanks to the amazing guests and community we're building, all with one goal: to help you join the elite group of agents who are consistently successful… That's what we share on The 13%.

  1. APR 9

    140 Agents, 60% Growth, No Burnout: Here's How He Did It w/ Ruben Luna

    Building a real estate team can be a growth engine or your own personal prison. It can lift the lid on your business and create leverage and momentum. Or it can trap you in a structure where you're working more, earning less, and carrying everyone else on your back. We've seen this play out over and over again. An agent starts doing well, gains some traction, and people naturally gravitate toward them. So they think, "It's time to build a team." But instead of creating leverage, they just add responsibility. What separates the teams that scale from the ones that stall? Ruben Luna is running one of the top teams in eXp, with 140+ agents, and growing 60% year over year. How did he scale without becoming the bottleneck? How do you build a team that actually frees you instead of depending on you?  In this episode, CEO of The Luna Team, Ruben, joins us to break down what it actually takes to build a team that scales, and why most agents get stuck.   Guest Bio Ruben Luna is the CEO of The Luna Team, one of the top-performing teams at eXp Realty, with over 140 agents and 60% year-over-year growth. With more than 20 years of experience and thousands of transactions closed, Ruben has built a reputation as both a top-producing agent and a high-level team leader in the Phoenix market. He is a multi-year recipient of the Top Producer Presidential Roundtable Award from the West Maricopa Association of Realtors. He has consistently led one of the region's top real estate teams. Known for his consistency, discipline, and commitment to both his clients and agents, Ruben has built his business around one core principle: creating structure and leverage that drives long-term, sustainable growth. To learn more, go to https://www.homesbytlt.com/.    About Your Hosts Lance Billingsley is a seasoned real estate professional with over a decade of experience in agent development and business coaching. Since January 2021, he has served as the Vice President of Agent Development at Navi Title Agency, where he leverages his extensive industry knowledge to mentor and support real estate agents. Before his tenure at Navi Title, Lance co-owned a top-performing real estate team at Realty ONE Group, achieving recognition as one of the company's top five teams. He also served as a business coach for Tom Ferry.  Dave Richards is a well-respected business coach working with CEOs, entrepreneurs, mortgage and real estate professionals, and others. With over 25+ years of executive leadership experience, he coaches and consults with the top professionals and organizations in their respective industries. Capitalizing on his certifications in Human Behavior, he specializes in building and optimizing high-performance teams and tackling difficult decisions that hold his clients back. He easily connects with entrepreneurs to help identify and communicate their vision, define their culture, and increase their profits and growth in today's dynamic marketplace.   Check out this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm, so our show reaches more people. Thank you!

    45 min
  2. MAR 26

    The Real Reason Some Agents Are Up 70% in 2026

    In early 2026, the real estate market has split into two. Some agents are up 20-70%, while other agents feel like nothing has changed from last year's slower market. The agents who are winning right now aren't reacting to conditions. They're compounding conversations, and treating every rate drop, headline, and industry shift as valuable opportunities.  Shifts like private equity circling real estate and new portals fighting for consumer attention are also creating new leverage points for prepared agents. And at the same time, AI isn't just helping with the work; it's starting to do the work. The agents pulling ahead aren't dabbling. They're locking in on a few high-leverage uses. So the real question isn't if the market is good or if you should be using AI. It's: where are you compounding effort, and where are you leaving leverage on the table? In this episode, we unpack why some agents are accelerating while others stall, how the industry power structure is quietly shifting, and how to actually think about AI in a way that creates a real advantage.       About Your Hosts Lance Billingsley is a seasoned real estate professional with over a decade of experience in agent development and business coaching. Since January 2021, he has served as the Vice President of Agent Development at Navi Title Agency, where he leverages his extensive industry knowledge to mentor and support real estate agents. Before his tenure at Navi Title, Lance co-owned a top-performing real estate team at Realty ONE Group, achieving recognition as one of the company's top five teams. He also served as a business coach for Tom Ferry.  Dave Richards is a well-respected business coach working with CEOs, entrepreneurs, mortgage and real estate professionals, and others. With over 25+ years of executive leadership experience, he coaches and consults with the top professionals and organizations in their respective industries. Capitalizing on his certifications in Human Behavior, he specializes in building and optimizing high-performance teams and tackling difficult decisions that hold his clients back. He easily connects with entrepreneurs to help identify and communicate their vision, define their culture, and increase their profits and growth in today's dynamic marketplace.   Check out this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm, so our show reaches more people. Thank you!

    34 min
  3. MAR 5

    Hidden Habits That Kill Real Estate Careers

    When we hear that 87% of agents don't make it, it's easy to blame a bad market, a lack of leads, or the agents not being skilled or hardworking enough. The truth is: even talented, motivated, and well-connected agents can find themselves exiting the industry. Here's the truth: you can have the best intentions, but still fail. Some of the things you do on a daily basis could be secretly sabotaging you. Being a jack of all trades, taking advice from the wrong people, or not committing to long-term consistency. These feel like smart, reasonable decisions in the moment, but they can quietly stall your growth and drain your momentum. So how do you stop operating like the 87% and start thinking like the 13%? In this episode, three real estate leaders share surprising reasons agents leave the business, and what the top performers do instead. In this episode;  Todd Conklin on wanting success vs. doing the work  Keith Carl Anderson on mastery vs. dabbling Jason Pantana on building long-term authority   About Your Hosts Lance Billingsley is a seasoned real estate professional with over a decade of experience in agent development and business coaching. Since January 2021, he has served as the Vice President of Agent Development at Navi Title Agency, where he leverages his extensive industry knowledge to mentor and support real estate agents. Before his tenure at Navi Title, Lance co-owned a top-performing real estate team at Realty ONE Group, achieving recognition as one of the company's top five teams. He also served as a business coach for Tom Ferry.  Dave Richards is a well-respected business coach working with CEOs, entrepreneurs, mortgage and real estate professionals, and others. With over 25+ years of executive leadership experience, he coaches and consults with the top professionals and organizations in their respective industries. Capitalizing on his certifications in Human Behavior, he specializes in building and optimizing high-performance teams and tackling difficult decisions that hold his clients back. He easily connects with entrepreneurs to help identify and communicate their vision, define their culture, and increase their profits and growth in today's dynamic marketplace.   Check out this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm, so our show reaches more people. Thank you!

    33 min
  4. FEB 19

    How to Become the Agent Clients Choose

    In real estate, we're taught that people need to know, like, and trust us, so we invest in our image and brand. While there's nothing wrong with this, that focus can drift a little too far away from what the consumer really needs.  Because here's the thing: this job isn't about us. When we're so focused on ourselves, we miss gaps in the experience, opportunities to create certainty, and solutions that actually add value to the consumer.  And when we focus on that, we get chosen more often and trusted more deeply. So how do we shift from visibility to value? In this special episode of The 13%, leaders from brokerage, education, and regulation each share how to turn that shift into more listings, smoother deals, and higher income.  In This Episode; Susan Nicolson on what consumers expect from a professional today and where agents fall short. Greg Hague on turning your service into a defined, in-demand product  Jenny Hogan-Lizarraga on the power of picking a lane instead of trying to work with everyone    About Your Hosts Lance Billingsley is a seasoned real estate professional with over a decade of experience in agent development and business coaching. Since January 2021, he has served as the Vice President of Agent Development at Navi Title Agency, where he leverages his extensive industry knowledge to mentor and support real estate agents. Before his tenure at Navi Title, Lance co-owned a top-performing real estate team at Realty ONE Group, achieving recognition as one of the company's top five teams. He also served as a business coach for Tom Ferry.  Dave Richards is a well-respected business coach working with CEOs, entrepreneurs, mortgage and real estate professionals, and others. With over 25+ years of executive leadership experience, he coaches and consults with the top professionals and organizations in their respective industries. Capitalizing on his certifications in Human Behavior, he specializes in building and optimizing high-performance teams and tackling difficult decisions that hold his clients back. He easily connects with entrepreneurs to help identify and communicate their vision, define their culture, and increase their profits and growth in today's dynamic marketplace.   Check out this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm, so our show reaches more people. Thank you!

    34 min
  5. FEB 5

    How to Succeed If the Market Doesn't Get Better

    For the last few years, this industry has been hoping for things to "go back to normal."  We've been waiting for rates to drop, inventory to come back, and transactions to pick up.  Agents want this business to feel the way it used to. And now that it's a new year, a lot of that hope has reset again. People believe that this will be the year things finally turn around. But what if what's happening isn't just a bad stretch? What if uncertainty really is the new normal?  How do we stop asking if the market will get better and start focusing on succeeding if things stay exactly the same? In this episode of The 13%, three real estate leaders talk about why hoping the market gets better isn't a strategy, and what to do instead.  In This Episode: Leigh Brown on accepting reality without becoming cynical or disengaged. Kimberly Ryan on how to stop outsourcing your mindset to the market. Jason Waugh on staying focused when uncertainty is part of the job.     About Your Hosts Lance Billingsley is a seasoned real estate professional with over a decade of experience in agent development and business coaching. Since January 2021, he has served as the Vice President of Agent Development at Navi Title Agency, where he leverages his extensive industry knowledge to mentor and support real estate agents. Before his tenure at Navi Title, Lance co-owned a top-performing real estate team at Realty ONE Group, achieving recognition as one of the company's top five teams. He also served as a business coach for Tom Ferry.  Dave Richards is a well-respected business coach working with CEOs, entrepreneurs, mortgage and real estate professionals, and others. With over 25+ years of executive leadership experience, he coaches and consults with the top professionals and organizations in their respective industries. Capitalizing on his certifications in Human Behavior, he specializes in building and optimizing high-performance teams and tackling difficult decisions that hold his clients back. He easily connects with entrepreneurs to help identify and communicate their vision, define their culture, and increase their profits and growth in today's dynamic marketplace.   Check out this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm, so our show reaches more people. Thank you!

    25 min
  6. JAN 8

    The New Real Estate Opportunity Most People Aren't Talking About w/ Jack Miller

    Most of us spent 2025 focused on what got harder in real estate. But while everyone was focused on survival, a massive new opportunity was coming into focus. Technology has evolved and stacked to remove the limits that agents, teams, and brokerages have faced for decades.  AI and new platforms now allow us to do things that used to be really hard, flat-out impossible, or took years to pull off. In 2026, new capabilities will reshape market share for agents who are willing to adapt, test, and move early. Scaling our businesses (even across states) is more affordable. We can use team leverage to double down on our strengths. We can grow visibility and market share faster and more efficiently than ever before. So how do you take advantage of the age of acceleration? Are new lawsuits the latest threat to our business? What opportunities should agents and brokerages be going after?  In this episode, we're joined by Jack Miller, CEO of real estate consulting firm T3 Sixty.  We talk about the new era of real estate success, where the real opportunity is hiding, and how to capitalize on it before everyone else does.   About our Guest Jack Miller is the president and CEO of T3 Sixty, a trusted advisor and management consultancy in the residential real estate brokerage industry. Clients include franchisors, brokerages, Realtor associations, MLS organizations, technology companies and brokerage industry investors, and market analysts. Jack brings more than two decades of hands-on real estate experience, blending strategic leadership with deep technology expertise. With a background in electrical and computer engineering, he has leveraged his tech-savvy approach to drive innovation across franchising, brokerage operations, and proptech. At Keller Williams Realty International, Jack led technology development during the company's expansion from 9,000 to nearly 60,000 agents, shaping its technology strategy. A key contributor to the Swanepoel Trends Report and Real Estate Almanac, Jack remains at the forefront of industry trends, making him a sought-after speaker known for delivering actionable insights on the future of real estate. Connect with Jack on LinkedIn.  Get a copy of the 2026 Swanepoel Trends Report at https://www.t3trends.com/.    About Your Hosts Lance Billingsley is a seasoned real estate professional with over a decade of experience in agent development and business coaching. Since January 2021, he has served as the Vice President of Agent Development at Navi Title Agency, where he leverages his extensive industry knowledge to mentor and support real estate agents. Before his tenure at Navi Title, Lance co-owned a top-performing real estate team at Realty ONE Group, achieving recognition as one of the company's top five teams. He also served as a business coach for Tom Ferry.  Dave Richards is a well-respected business coach working with CEOs, entrepreneurs, mortgage and real estate professionals, and others. With over 25+ years of executive leadership experience, he coaches and consults with the top professionals and organizations in their respective industries. Capitalizing on his certifications in Human Behavior, he specializes in building and optimizing high-performance teams and tackling difficult decisions that hold his clients back. He easily connects with entrepreneurs to help identify and communicate their vision, define their culture, and increase their profits and growth in today's dynamic marketplace.   Check out this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm, so our show reaches more people. Thank you!

    57 min
  7. 12/18/2025

    Why Great Marketers Are Beating Great Agents Right Now w/ Jimmy Mackin

    Do you believe that winning in real estate is about working the hardest or being in the business the longest? Well, today's market is proving otherwise. An okay agent who's great at marketing will beat a great agent who's bad at marketing. Their message travels farther, faster, and lands with more people, and that creates leads, appointments, and closings. Effort isn't the differentiator anymore; consistent visibility is.  We're in an era where speed-to-decision matters more than perfect strategy. Many of us obsess over "what if," waiting for 90% certainty before we make a move, while the top 13% operate on 20% information and pull the trigger.  They build their audience long before they try to monetize it. They post, email, send mailers, run campaigns, and it's not because each action guarantees a lead. But because they understand the accumulation of attention is the cheat code. Brand is no longer a vanity metric; it's the lever that makes every action cheaper, faster, and more effective. And AI isn't leveling the playing field; it's exposing who's been hiding behind mediocre marketing.  And here's the real danger: agents who continue posting inconsistently, waiting for ideas, hoping something finally works, will be outpaced by those treating marketing like an engine instead of a chore. How will the current shifts in marketing and AI impact the everyday solo agent? What are the three simple activities that lead to audience growth, engagement, and ultimately, conversion?  In this episode, we unpack this with entrepreneur, real estate marketing expert, and co-founder of ListingLeads, Jimmy Mackin. Jimmy's platform supports 4,000 in their marketing efforts, so he understands where agent marketing is working today, and where it's heading next.  Jimmy shares the misconceptions holding agents back, the skills the next generation must master, and the mindset shift that separates the 13% who scale from the 87% who stall. About the Guest Jimmy Mackin is an entrepreneur, author, and real estate marketing expert dedicated to helping agents grow their business and stand out in a crowded market. He's the founder and CEO of ListingLeads, a marketing platform that supports over 4,000 agents with tools, automation, and strategies to attract more listings and clients. Through his work with ListingLeads and his co-founded AI-powered seller report tool Beacon, Jimmy focuses on turning passive audiences into active opportunities, helping agents demonstrate value and win business in competitive markets. Jimmy isn't just building software; he's building a movement. With a mission to become "the most useful person to follow in real estate," he speaks about data-driven strategies that work today. His insights have been highlighted alongside industry leaders, and he's studied thousands of top-performing real estate marketing campaigns to uncover what truly drives growth for agents. Follow @jimmymackin on Instagram.  About Your Hosts Lance Billingsley is a seasoned real estate professional with over a decade of experience in agent development and business coaching. Since January 2021, he has served as the Vice President of Agent Development at Navi Title Agency, where he leverages his extensive industry knowledge to mentor and support real estate agents. Before his tenure at Navi Title, Lance co-owned a top-performing real estate team at Realty ONE Group, achieving recognition as one of the company's top five teams. He also served as a business coach for Tom Ferry.    Dave Richards is a well-respected business coach working with CEOs, entrepreneurs, mortgage and real estate professionals, and others. With over 25+ years of executive leadership experience, he coaches and consults with the top professionals and organizations in their respective industries. Capitalizing on his certifications in Human Behavior, he specializes in building and optimizing high-performance teams and tackling difficult decisions that hold his clients back. He easily connects with entrepreneurs to help identify and communicate their vision, define their culture, and increase their profits and growth in today's dynamic marketplace.

    41 min
  8. 12/11/2025

    The Social Media Metrics That Actually Matter in Real Estate w/ Tessabella Jelten

    Social media is one of the most powerful tools in our business… and also one of the most confusing. We're constantly told to post more, stay consistent, and put ourselves out there,  But most of us are still trying to figure out what actually works, and what actually turns content into conversations, and conversations into clients. The truth is, so many of us are doing social media the hard way. We obsess over how polished our posts look, whether we said the perfect thing, or whether we're "on trend," but almost none of that is what actually moves the needle for us.  We get caught up in follower counts, going viral, and looking perfect, when in real estate, those metrics don't matter. The things that really matter are trust, connection, approachability, and just showing up. Unfortunately, we overlook these things and focus on metrics that don't drive success in our industry.  The agents who win on social aren't the ones who look the most put-together. They're the ones who show up honestly, talk like real people, and create content that feels like who they actually are, not who they think they're supposed to be. What popular social media practices actually erode our approachability and trust? How do we focus on the metrics that actually matter in real estate? In this episode, we're joined by marketing strategist, real estate coach, and digital marketing educator Tessabella Jelten. She's seen behind the curtain of more than 450 agent accounts, from newer agents to top producers to the faces we're used to seeing on HGTV, Bravo and Netflix.  She shares how to build trust and approachability through content and the simple social strategies that actually generate conversations, not just views.    About the Guest Tessabella Jelten is a widely acclaimed marketing strategist, real estate coach, and digital marketing educator, and the founder of The Neighborhood and House of Agents Academy. She has been working exclusively in the real estate space for over eight years, managing more than 450 agent accounts, including TV celebrities on HGTV, Bravo, and Netflix. Her journey began directly out of high school, when she began her career as a bootstrapped real estate investor with no money to her name, sitting at her laptop trying to figure out the best way to acquire properties, raise capital, brand and market them, and understand the ins and outs of real estate. Through this process, she successfully built a name for herself in the valley, remodeling and restoring historic properties. The entire time, she was documenting the process through social media and building a brand that later became a residential real estate team partnered with the NBA's Phoenix Suns. Through years of real estate and marketing experience in the field, Tessabella developed a unique approach to building, scaling, and branding real estate companies. Through strategic networking, years of hard work, and a relentless passion for her work, she's gone on to work with some of the largest names in the industry to build entire marketing suites, lead generation funnels, and commercially recognized brands. Through the years of trial and error, she eventually cracked the code and has since been on a massive growth trajectory, helping real estate professionals around the world through her signature success 4S Formula. Follow @tessaabellaa on Instagram.     About Your Hosts Lance Billingsley is a seasoned real estate professional with over a decade of experience in agent development and business coaching. Since January 2021, he has served as the Vice President of Agent Development at Navi Title Agency, where he leverages his extensive industry knowledge to mentor and support real estate agents. Before his tenure at Navi Title, Lance co-owned a top-performing real estate team at Realty ONE Group, achieving recognition as one of the company's top five teams. He also served as a business coach for Tom Ferry.    Dave Richards is a well-respected business coach working with CEOs, entrepreneurs, mortgage and real estate professionals, and others. With over 25+ years of executive leadership experience, he coaches and consults with the top professionals and organizations in their respective industries. Capitalizing on his certifications in Human Behavior, he specializes in building and optimizing high-performance teams and tackling difficult decisions that hold his clients back. He easily connects with entrepreneurs to help identify and communicate their vision, define their culture, and increase their profits and growth in today's dynamic marketplace.

    50 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Why do 87% of real estate agents fail? After decades in the business, we think we've found the answer: Real estate gives us the freedom and flexibility to build the life we want… Yet if we don't have boldness, patience, integrity and the discipline to follow the right priorities, we're guaranteed to be in the 87% that fail. Our character must show up in our EFFORT. So we're sharing how to take on the mentality of the top 13%, become the person you're meant to be, and earn a great living in the process! Thanks to the amazing guests and community we're building, all with one goal: to help you join the elite group of agents who are consistently successful… That's what we share on The 13%.

You Might Also Like