Real estate professionals often predicate success upon an external force, a factor beyond their control. Like interest rates. Or inventory. How many times have you thought, “if rates just came down a little” or “if we just had more listings,” surely, business would skyrocket.
In reality, however, while interest rates and inventory are critically important to real estate sales, the biggest factors that will affect your success in the year ahead—or any year, for that matter—are all within your control. Right now.
During RISMedia’s sixth annual Real Estate’s Rocking in the New Year virtual event held on Jan. 8, four top brokerage leaders came together to share with an audience of more than 6,000 real estate professionals what they believe to be the Top 3 factors that will shape success in 2026. Spoiler alert: None of them have to do with the market or outside forces.
No. 1 – Mindset
According to session moderator Todd Sumney, chief industry officer of HomeSmart, success on any level begins with mindset. Coming off the challenges of 2025, it’s no surprise that agent mindset has suffered.
“We’ve had three years of lower transactions than typical,” said Sumney. “For some agents, it has zapped their energy. They have low confidence and they’re a little bit down about it. Meanwhile, top agents have this exciting mindset. They wake up with a positive attitude and, most importantly, they have confidence and a belief in the service that we’re providing. So No. 1, look at your mindset.”
To help develop and maintain a positive mindset, Sumney encouraged agents to create a support system. Get a mentor or an accountability partner, join a mastermind group or even consider joining a team.
Christina Pappas, president of The Keyes Company and Illustrated Properties, is a third-generation real estate professional. She harkened back to an important daily practice her grandfather swore by.
“My grandfather used to wake up every morning, and he’d look in the mirror and say, ‘it’s gonna be a great day,'” Pappas shared. “He truly had that positive mindset every single morning.”
A client of Ninja Selling training, Pappas’ company is committed to helping agents create and execute positive morning routines.
“None of them include waking up with our hair on fire, reading emails and stressing out about a potential issue with a deal,” she said. “They all start with mindset, gratitude, affirmations. Think about five things you are grateful for before putting your feet on the ground.”
Take that practice a step further, Pappas added, and write those things down. “I have affirmations on my mirror that I read aloud to myself every single day,” she shared. “Think about how you feel when you are living those affirmations, then look at your whole business plan from a positive mindset. How am I going to put that in action today with that positive affirmation behind it?”
Of course, cultivating a positive mindset means quieting the noise in order to focus, explained Michael Valdez, CEO of LPT International and president of Aperture. While this is a tall order in the current climate, those who are able to do so are the ones who win, he said.
Valdez also underscored Sumney’s advice on creating a support network, adding that this network must evolve as your career advances.
“Think of it as though you were going to climb the Himalayas,” he said. “When you go to base camp, there’s a certain number of people that will take you there. But if you want to elevate on that mountain, there’s a different sherpa that takes you because there’s a different skillset you need to adopt. So as we look at this new year, those people that you surround yourself with, allowing you to rise up the mountain, that is so important.”
According to DeAnn Golden, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties, in order to succeed, we must approach each day from a place of abundance and “be ready to rise.”
“We always perform to the level of our mindset,” said Golden. “Make sure the people around you are lifting up your mindset, because that’s going to help you get more clarity, and more clarity is going to help you gain back more confidence.”
No. 2 – Relationships
When it comes to succeeding in real estate, relationships are everything, said Golden.
She referenced the infamous statistic that while 87% of consumers find value in what their real estate agent does, only 13% return to that same agent.
“That’s not a performance breakdown; that’s a relationship gap—what we’re doing before, during and after the transaction to ensure that we’re nurturing the relationship,” said Golden. “You can scale your business with AI technology and machines, but it’s going to take high touch to ensure it sustains. People will come back to you when they believe in you.”
Valdes agreed, and stressed that adding value and building trust will differentiate you among agents, and allow you to create and sustain market-resistant relationships that fuel ongoing success.
“What value are you bringing?” he asked. “There’s a million-and-a-half Realtors® in the United States. Why should they pick you? That’s what we need to answer for ourselves. We need to serve that consumer with great humility and great skill.”
Pappas expounded upon this, explaining that it’s not just enough to have consumers know, like and trust you—you must also be “in flow” in those relationships.
“We’ve all had that experience where somebody listed with somebody else because it just happened to be the last Realtor® they saw at a cocktail party,” she said. “How are you differentiating yourself and ensuring that you are in front of people when they need to buy and sell? How are you making sure your database is set up? How are you utilizing your systems? How are you in flow with those relationships?”
To strengthen and build new relationships in 2026, Sumney explained that it’s essential to engage more frequently, become more visible and create more value.
“It’s about doing the right things,” he said. “Be part of a mastermind group where they share ideas about engaging and strengthening relationships. Participate in workshops and training and education that your brokerage provides. Then implement (what you learn) in your business.”
No. 3 – Full-service integration
As consolidation continues to change the residential real estate landscape, leaning into a full-service, integrated approach with consumers will be critical to setting yourself apart and setting yourself up for success.
Pappas’ firm, for example, has fully integrated title, mortgage, insurance and property management under its corporate umbrella. But the key to making it all work is having a strong team in place to support it.
“When you have a solid team behind you, you can be a lot more confident about the services you offer,” she said. “Realtors®, at the end of the day, want to help customers find, sell, buy, solve a problem, and then pass it along to a really strong team to help them close out the deal.”
An agent’s support team, Pappas added, also includes the technology they have access to, and how it can help them stand out as a more effective and efficient full-service real estate professional.
“The most important message continues to be differentiation,” said Valdes. “Look at all of the AI that’s surrounding us, for example—the technology that’s there. It’s going to make us much more efficient. It’s not anything that we should fear. We should definitely embrace it, because the moment we do, we get to serve more clients; we get to touch more people.”
Golden agreed, sharing that every time there has been a technological innovation over the course of her 30 years in the business, she has been proactive and embraced it. She agreed with Valdes, therefore, and encouraged agents to leverage AI to help them stand out.
What’s more, she added, with the average homeowner now staying in their home for well over 10 years, they’re now outlasting the length of time the average agent spends in the business. This opens up an opportunity for serious agents, and makes creating longterm, full-service relationships with clients more important than ever.
“We too believe in being a fully integrated source,” said Golden. “We too believe in that complete real estate experience to not only deliver brokerage, but mortgage, title, insurance, warranty—all pieces. Because we cannot be there just at the point of buy and sell anymore. We’ve got to ensure that we’re providing these other services to give that integrated experience.”
According to Golden, proof of concept for the full-service approach is abundant.
“The statistics are out there,” she said. “Consumers will not only seek out a singular source and the ability to have that convenience, they’ll pay more for it and then they’ll come back for that in between our actual transaction points. I believe full-integration is going to take a whole new level, and it’s going to be powered with the technology that enables us to build more relationships and deliver that value in the full (homeownership) circle, not just at one sale.”
As Pappas said, when it comes to full-service integration, even if you or your company can’t provide everything a consumer needs, you can be the “source of the source”—the person your client turns to steer them in the right direction. As Sumney put it, “Be the connector; be the provider.”
Sumney closed the panel discussion by encouraging agents to take advantage of the resources, training and technology their broker provides.
“You as agents need to embrace it,” he said. “Put it on your calendar, make it part of your daily activities and use the technology that your brokerages are already giving you. Use it to provide full-service integration that will grow your business and serve your customers.”
