005 - For Agents Tired Of Needing Thick Skin

In this episode of the Loan Daddy Podcast, we discuss one of the most overlooked skills in real estate: mindset. Whether you’re a real estate agent, mortgage professional, or industry entrepreneur, learning how to handle rejection, unrealistic client expectations, and daily challenges can be the difference between burnout and long-term success.

After attending a recent real estate mastermind conference, we dive into a thought-provoking discussion about dealing with “difficult” clients and why many professionals may be approaching these situations from the wrong perspective. Instead of viewing clients as incompetent, what if they’re simply misinformed?

We break down a real-world example from a rental agent struggling with unrealistic client requests and discuss practical solutions such as creating systems, implementing intake forms, setting expectations, and developing a growth-oriented mindset. Most importantly, we explore why top-performing agents focus on relationships, education, and long-term opportunities rather than transactional thinking.

If you’re in real estate and have ever felt frustrated by unrealistic buyers, sellers, or leads, this episode will help you reframe your approach and build a more sustainable business.

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro & Conference Takeaways
 00:22 Why Mindset Matters in Real Estate
 01:05 The “Incompetent Client” Discussion
 03:40 Best Responses to Unrealistic Expectations
 04:17 Creating Systems & Intake Forms
 05:17 Why Most Agents Leave the Industry
 06:04 Transactional vs Growth Mindset
 06:20 Building Scalable Real Estate Processes
 07:02 Reframing Every Lead as an Opportunity
 07:34 Clients Aren’t Incompetent—They’re Misinformed
 08:07 The Value of Honesty in Real Estate
 08:36 Relationship-Based vs Transactional Agents
 08:51 Final Thoughts & Community Discussion

💬 What strategies have helped you work with misinformed or unrealistic clients? Let us know in the comments below.

👍 If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and share it with another real estate professional.

#RealEstateAgent #RealEstateMindset #LoanDaddyPodcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Having that mindset initially that all these people that I'm talking to are incompetent. They don't know anything. They're not incompetent. They're misinformed. Welcome to the Lone Daddy Podcast, episode five. I just got back last week from a conference. It was a one-day conference for one of these mastermind groups with industry professionals. The main topic of conversation centered around mindset. And having a strong mindset in the real estate industry is something that I don't think is talked about enough. We are in an industry where you face rejection literally on a daily basis. And having thick skin is something the top agents will tell you you need to have in order to be successful in this industry. Coincidentally, I came across this post that I'm going to read that speaks to this. Now, in this post, it's more for a rental property. Obviously, most of us deal with sales, but the message and the lesson still applies here. So I found a lot of value in this, and I'm gonna share a lot of the comments that really stood out to me as well. So the title here reads, How do you keep your patience with dot dot dot incompetent clients? The post reads, I'm not really sure a nicer way to put it. I don't like calling people dumb, but yeah, I'm an apartment locator, interesting choice of words, and have been for two years now in a major metro. My patience is wearing thin, to put it lightly. Now that's saying a lot because I'm a patient person overall, but it's gotten to where when I see the text, yeah, I'm looking for a two-bed townhouse for like 800 modern AF, I can't help but groan and roll my eyes. For reference, average in my area for that is like 2400 plus easily. It's like my job. I it pays the bills barely, just enough. I have a good brokerage, great people I work with, and the flexibility I need. However, the clients are frustrating to put it lightly. I have templates for some things, but others just take me off guard. They're so incredibly uninformed, and I just know from there this isn't a serious client. Such as sending my IG posts of literal $10,000 penthouses asking if I can find something like that for $1,300. What? No. Issue is two, my leads are house leads. I can't turn away a client unless they harass me or a severely low income, i.e., someone on a fixed SSDI income, and our managers check our tasks text texts, excuse me, so there's no hiding it. Moreover, every client has to be given the full experience, as in five to ten minute call, text follow-ups, a fully custom list, i.e. precise availability, unit number, fee sheet photos, even I'm fast at it, and each list takes me about an hour, more if they're needing something specific. And if one person asks me for a split-level historic industrial loft in an area that literally cannot have industrial lofts because it's a master plan community that's only existed since the 90s, I may scream. Anyway, if all my clients were qualified, understood what a lease is, at least on a basic level, and had some realistic expectations of what they can get, my job would be the dream. I'm at the point now where if someone is just reasonable but has poor credit and low income, I'm stoked because 25 to 50% of my clients come in with just wildly off-mark ideas. And I can't turn them away even though I know they won't convert and they don't. I have a high close rate too at my brokerage sitting at 20%. Most people are at 5 to 10%. How do I keep my patients with the majority asking me questions or making statements that require me to take a five-minute breather before I respond? A lot to digest there, and a few of the comments that stood out to me that I could just read here. One person wrote, I like this reply. There's no judgment, no snark, and it's direct. He writes, your house exists, just not for that price. By the way, I think a lot of these comments are good over the phone, via text and email. It could be misinterpreted, as we all know. Create an intake form with options that need to be selected from a drop-down. Don't include the stupid options that don't work like you described above. If they can't select their option and still contact you, your five-minute call is just telling them what their budget would need to be to get what they are looking for, etc. I like that. You know, having a system and a process in place will allow you to scale. Having some kind of intake form that they need to fill out. Here are what your options are. Do you fit within one of these options? And also keep in mind, it's okay not always agreeing with the client and letting them take them through your funnel and your process and being in control of the process is really what the top agents do. Say, this is what we need. We need you to answer these questions. If you're unable or if you don't want to answer these questions, perhaps we're not a great fit to work together. In this example, he's saying, you know, average rents could be around $2,400, someone's looking for a similar property for $800 a month. It's okay to say something, something to the effect of, look, here's the data, here's what the rents are in this area. If someone can find you that price for $800 a month, more power to them. That's great. And I wish you all the best, the best of luck in finding that option. But that is not what the market is showing right now. Someone wrote, have you considered a different brokerage? There's a lot of comments here about getting out of the industry entirely. Some person wrote here, think you just learn to deal with it until eventually you get sick of it and leave the industry like everyone else. There are a lot of comments like that too, which I think is great for someone who's in the real estate industry and is looking to grow their business. This is the majority. Majority of people find discomfort and they find challenges in people like this, and it drives them out of the industry, and it allows someone who is looking to grow their business to pick up market share because most people will have that attitude. And one thing that we spoke about in this conference last week was getting away from being a transactional agent to being someone with more of a growth mindset. You know, looking at every single transaction on its own instead of thinking about the bigger picture is why there's so much burnout in this industry. So that simple idea that was in the comment section about having an intake form will allow someone to scale. You know, allow you to not really live in such a gray world where every single client is different, they have a different process, allows you to live more in a black and white world in our industry, where each person that comes in, whether they're looking for a $3 million purchase or a $300,000 purchase, it's the same process. And building that out takes time, and having the right people around you takes time. But seeing that vision through keeps people in the in the business and allows them to see a great picture of what this industry can potentially be, because that's what a lot of the top agents do here. Having that mindset as well of when your phone rings or you get an incoming inquiry from someone, having the mindset that they're trying to give you money, or at minimum, they're giving you an opportunity to earn your income. Having that frame of mind every single opportunity, every time I'm out, there's someone that I can meet that could potentially lead me to a prospective buyer or seller who I can help is a game changer for so many people. So having that mindset initially that oh, all these people that I'm talking to are incompetent, they don't know anything, they're not incompetent, they're misinformed. So now you have an opportunity to inform this person. And when they say, I don't want to work with you because I'm looking for something that is $800 a month, and you say, look, that's not realistic. Here's what I can offer you, here's my value proposition, I can find you the right home, and they end up going elsewhere because of what you know about the market, you know they're not going to be able to find it. And you may be the only person that was honest and upfront with them about that. And there are going to be people in the industry who are going to overpromise and underdeliver. And I think being that person that is honest with them and upfront with them, those types of clients tend to come back. They tend to circle back. This has happened in my career over the years where we'll talk to someone, we'll tell them something that maybe they don't want to hear, but what's reality about the market. And you stand out because most people are looking at this from a transactional standpoint and not really a relational standpoint. And I think that's one of the biggest differences between top agents out there and agents who are in the industry for a year or two years maximum. I really did like this post and I hope that agents all around can get value out of this. And that's all that I have today. So please uh feel free to DM me right in the comment section if you are also um working with clients that may seem incompetent or misinformed, and solutions that you have or strategies that you have that have worked with buyers like that. And that's it. So I will see you on the next episode. Thank you for everyone who has subscribed so far. Please hit the like button and I will see you on the next episode. Thank you.