2026 will reward execution, not excuses

Last year did expose a lot of people.

The ones who cruised on the chaos of 2020-21 got caught. Their pipelines dried up. Their excuses got louder. Their energy shifted from real work to social media fluff. No followup. No prospecting. No accountability.

And they blamed the market.

The reality, though, is not the market. This is where you really have to look yourself in the mirror.

The latest numbers told us that 52.7 per cent of Toronto Regional Real Estate Board agents

According to the National Association of Realtors, only six per cent of agents in North America did more than 10 deals last year. And that number is shrinking — not because there aren’t deals, but because too many agents stopped doing the work, or never did it in the first place.

Too many people chase vanity metrics instead of value. They try to build brands on social media but have all the excuses in the world for why they won’t make the calls. They treat real estate like a side hustle — then wonder why they get hobby-level results.

The market made them rock stars, and they believed their own hype — but now it’s real.

This year won’t reward your ambition. It will reward your execution.

Effort produces results.

The trendy brokerage model is crumbling — and it’s self-inflicted

Ask most brokers how their margins are doing — privately — and they’ll tell you the truth: it’s getting harder to survive.

Expenses are up. Loyalty is down. Recruiting is harder than ever. This is simply reality.

And the reason is simple: trends are just trends. Brokerages are still trying to recruit more people instead of building businesses with the right people. Still focused on agent count over agent performance. Still selling the dream without teaching the skills. Still focused on looking like the biggest in town.

But who are they doing it for? The homeowners? Their agents? Or their egos?

Some brokerages believe the so-called pyramid model — even though they don’t call it that — is viable. Yet they don’t realize they’re building a culture of agents who want to recruit other agents and go to parties, rather than a culture of agents who actually want to help more people buy and sell homes.

The agents who join these companies hoping to get support often realize the people who promised to help are more interested in recruiting and building their own businesses than actually helping. It becomes a numbers game — but it shouldn’t be.

The big, flashy parties and rooftop socials might look great on Instagram, but they’re just a trend. Everyone trying to outshine the next. Behind the scenes, it’s often chaos. A handful of top agents carry the weight while the rest coast.

And brokers keep feeding the pyramid because that’s what they’ve always done. Recruit, recruit, recruit. What about retention?

There’s too much padding and too little performance. And the worst part? Many brokers know it — but don’t know how to fix it. They’re stuck managing personalities instead of mentoring producers.

The result?

Turnover is rising. Trust is fading. And agents are leaving — not because of commission splits, but because they can’t hear themselves inside the noise anymore. They’re not getting the help, support or real accountability they need to succeed.

Your agents are listening — just not to you

I spoke to an agent last month who told me, “I skip the office coaching sessions. I get better info from outside my office.”

That’s the reality now.

Brokers are losing the attention of their own people to leaders who are actually focused on helping them grow.

Why?

Because those people speak directly to agents’ pain. Most brokerages don’t.

Your people don’t need another motivational quote. They need someone in the trenches with them. Someone who understands what it actually takes to build a pipeline in a distracted, low-trust market.

Instead, they get managers who facilitate recorded training, talk about trendy AI they don’t fully understand, offer coffee machines and culture quotes, and rely on internal teams who have never built an actual business of their own.

Then you wonder why no one shows up for training.

Leadership needs a hard reset

It’s not just brokers. It’s the entire leadership structure.

Boards, associations and franchises — too many are led by people more concerned about optics than outcomes. There’s more infighting between organizations than focus on helping agents win.

Booking speakers to sell tickets, rather than speakers who provide real solutions. Hiring people to be a voice when they don’t actually have one.

You think the public doesn’t notice?

They do. Homeowners are watching the infighting, politics and drama — and wondering what they’re paying for. Many agents are wondering the same thing.

If you want to elevate the profession, stop protecting the status quo and chasing glory. Start building structures that actually serve the boots-on-the-ground agents who carry this industry.

Most agents have a discipline problem — and that means a pipeline problem

Here’s the thing most agents don’t want to hear — and most brokers are too afraid to say:

You’re not failing because of the market.

You’re failing because your calendar is empty, your phone is quiet and you don’t have a plan to fix it. You’re not putting in the work.

Our internal coaching data shows agents who time-block at least 90 minutes a day for prospecting and followup — and track it — average four to six more deals per year.

That’s not theory. That’s data.

But most agents won’t do it. They skip the hard stuff and chase hacks. They spend more time tweaking their brand than picking up the phone. They ask AI to write emails but won’t invest 20 minutes to write a real followup script or build a pipeline.

If you don’t have a pipeline — or you do but don’t work it every day — you don’t have a real estate business. You have a problem.

Success isn’t complicated. It’s uncomfortable — and most people avoid it.

What real support looks like

If you’re a broker reading this, here’s what your people actually need:

• Real coaching from people who’ve done the work
• Daily structure they can follow and track
• Clear accountability that doesn’t disappear when it’s inconvenient
• Consistent reminders that pipeline is oxygen

If you’re not offering that — and you’re hosting a single business-planning brunch instead — you’ve missed the mark.

It’s nice to offer something, but what happens after they walk out the door? How different are they and their businesses three months — or six months — later?

Did you solve a problem, or just check a box?

If you’re an agent reading this:

Stop waiting for your office to solve your problems.

Invest in a coach. Track your numbers. Prospect daily. Get in front of your people before someone else does.

Stop being busy. Start being productive.

Your January playbook: Build the system, don’t just set the goal

Here’s how to make 2026 different from every other year:

• Audit your business: Know where your deals came from, what you spent and what didn’t work in 2025.
• Design your system: Turn 2026 goals into quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily targets.
• Map your time: Use a planner or CRM. Time-block followup and prospecting. Track your touches. No guesswork.
• Invest in real support: Join a coaching group, mastermind or hire someone who will hold you accountable.
• Stop hanging with average: Get around winners. If your circle isn’t pushing you, find a new one.

Final word: 2026 belongs to the professionals

This isn’t the year to wait. This is the year to work your pipeline.

Lazy agents are getting exposed. Leaders who coasted are getting replaced. Agents who built real systems are taking market share while the rest make excuses.

Most people make excuses. Leaders don’t.

This isn’t about popularity. It’s about performance.

If anything in this article stung — good. That means it was meant for you.

Now go do something with it.