Skip to content Two real estate agents. Same market, same conditions, completely different results. One takes listings every single month. The other is stuck in a loop of webinars, saved scripts, and social media strategy sessions… wondering when things will finally turn around.
What separates them? It isn’t talent, market timing, or luck. Based on REDX data, agents using the platform consistently take about 3x more listings than the average real estate agent.
But is it really just that they are using REDX? Or is it that they are committed to the prospecting activities that actually bring in business?
Here’s what the data actually says about how to get more real estate listings in 2026.
Quick Links:
Why Are So Many Agents Still Stuck?
Most agents are failing because they’re addicted to acquiring knowledge instead of actually putting it into practice.
There’s a pattern that shows up constantly with struggling agents. They watch the videos, save the scripts, attend the trainings.
They can tell you exactly what they should be doing. And then they don’t do it. The learning pile grows while the income stays flat. It’s easy to feel productive when you’re “preparing”… but preparation without execution doesn’t pay the bills.
Here’s the truth: the agent who makes 50 imperfect calls will always outperform the agent who studies 50 perfect scripts. Progress in this business doesn’t come from knowing more. It comes from doing more, having real conversations, making mistakes, and adjusting over time. That’s how prospecting skill actually develops.
We go more in depth on the knowledge addiction trap in the video below. The short version is that most agents are addicted to learning rather than actually implementing what they’ve learned.
Should You Be Focused on Buyers or Sellers?
Focus on sellers. Agents working seller leads earn approximately $1,456 per hour. Buyer agents earn approximately $320 per hour.
That’s more than four times the income for the same amount of time invested (Redfin data). The reason is straightforward: the average buyer deal takes about 29 working hours to close…showings, financing, negotiations, follow-through. The average seller deal takes about 7 hours.
One listing appointment can produce the same income as multiple buyer transactions, without the constant time drain. If your goal is to get more real estate listings and grow your income in 2026, becoming a listing agent first isn’t just a preference. It’s the math.
Does Cold Calling Still Work in 2026?
Yes. Cold calling works. It just requires more discipline than it used to.
You’ve seen the posts claiming it’s dead. But look at what top producers are actually doing. Because real estate is still a relationship business, and conversations are what drive listings.
Kent Brown proved this by making up to 1,000 calls a day to high-probability homeowners and making over 175k GCI in less than 2 months.
Cold calling works when you’re calling the right people with the right information, consistently over time. The key phrase is “the right people.” Randomly dialing leads doesn’t work. Calling motivated homeowners with context (knowing their situation, knowing why the conversation matters) does. Agents who want proven openers and objection-handling frameworks can start with these cold calling tips for real estate agents.
Who Should You Be Calling First?
Call expired listings first, FSBOs second, and pre-foreclosure leads third. Not all leads convert at the same rate, and calling the wrong list wastes your best prospecting hours.
Expired listings are the top priority.
These homeowners already tried to sell. They went through the process, invested time and money, and it didn’t work. That creates urgency and motivation. According to REDX MLS tracking data, 43% of expired listings relist within 90 days. Compare that to your sphere of influence, which converts at just 3–5% annually.
Work 100 expired listing leads consistently and you might list around 40 of them. From your sphere in the same period, expect maybe 3–5 deals.
FSBO leads are often overlooked, which is exactly the opportunity. About 38% of FSBOs will eventually list with an agent. Most agents never call them, which means less competition and more appointments for the ones who do.
Pre-foreclosure leads are more time-sensitive and require a different approach, but still represent strong potential. About 15% of pre-foreclosure leads will list in a given year.
What Numbers Should You Track Every Day?
Track calls made, appointments set, and referrals asked for. Everything else is secondary.
Most agents measure the wrong things: marketing impressions, social followers, email open rates. These feel like progress but don’t directly produce listings. What you measure is what you work on, so make sure you’re tracking the levers that actually move the business forward.
- Calls made: Volume is the foundation. There’s no substitute for picking up the phone.
- Appointments set: This number tells you how well your approach is working. If calls are high but appointments are low, the conversation is the problem, not the effort.
- Referrals asked for: Most agents never ask. The ones who do build a compounding pipeline over time.
If you’re already a REDX customer, you can track your calls and appointments made while on the call using our built in prospecting tracker, Vortex.
When Is the Right Time to Start Automating?
After you know what works manually. Not before.
Curtis Fenn, President & COO at REDX, recently wrote about how real estate agents might be automating before seeing results. If you missed it, what you need to know is that AI & automation as a ‘wonder cure’ for any business woe is not a new phenomenon.
A lot of agents build automation systems before they’ve figured out what actually converts. They create follow-up sequences for objections they’ve never personally handled, then wonder why nothing sticks.
But based on what actually helps agents make money, my advice to you is to do the work manually first. Make the calls. Have the conversations. Learn the real objections. Figure out what language actually moves people toward a yes.
Once you start seeing patterns (which openings generate callbacks, which follow-up timing produces appointments) then you systematize it.
Tools like a Power Dialer and automated multi-channel follow-up should multiply your effort, not replace it. The best automation is built on real data from real conversations, not assumptions about what might work.
How to Get More Real Estate Listings in 30 Days
You don’t need a complete business overhaul to get more real estate listings. You need focused, consistent action on one thing.
Pick one of these and commit to it for the next 30 days:
- Call expired listings every morning before 10am. Aim for at least 20 dials per session
- Make 50 calls per day to a single, high-probability lead type (expired, FSBO, or pre-foreclosure)
- Track three numbers every day: calls made, appointments set, referrals asked for
One activity, 30 days, consistent execution. Don’t try to implement everything at once… scattered effort on five things produces worse results than focused effort on one.
The agents winning right now aren’t the most talented or the best-trained. They’re the most consistent. They do the work every day, especially when it’s uncomfortable. Stop studying the playbook. Run the play.
