Life at Ten Tenths

Latest Episodes:

Rethinking How Agents Charge: Flat Fees, Upfront Money, Shared Risk Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

You do the work, carry all the risk, and hope you get paid at closing. This episode breaks down fee models that change that.

Join Matt and Garrett for a conversation as they explore what charging looks like outside the standard commission box: flat fees for your marketing and expertise, upfront money on overpriced listings, risk-shifting out clauses, and why more money options actually take pressure off the money conversation. Ideas to react to, not rules to follow, and they want to hear your take.

→ Join the conversation inside the Ten Tenths community: https://tentenths.co

One Thing to Never Automate in Your Real Estate Business (If You Already Do This Change Now) Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

You've been told to build systems. You've been told to automate. You've been told the agents who scale are the ones who don't do everything manually. All of that is true. And there is one thing you should never, ever put on autopilot. And if you're doing it right now, you're not building your business. You're quietly wearing it down.

In this conversation, we get into the one category of client touch that has to stay personal, no matter how big your database gets.

This is about doing the right things in the right places. It comes down to automating the value delivery (reports, data, information the client can use) and leaving the emotional moments alone.

Done right, your clients feel seen instead of processed, and the referral machine you've been trying to build actually starts to spin.

Join us in the 11 Circle for weekly coaching with Matt and Garrett, additional resources, and full access to our online community. Join at https://tentenths.co

Hosted by Matt Bonelli and Garrett Frey, TenTenths.co

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#realestate #realtor #realestateagent #realestatecoaching #realestatebusiness #clientexperience #referrals #realestatesystems #realestatesuccess

Do You Have to Buy Real Estate Leads to Survive? (The Truth About the 3% Rule) Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

Google launched a real estate product pairing listings with buyer's agents. Every platform is pitching you their pipeline. Underneath all of it is the same message: pay to play, or fall behind.

We don't buy it. And when you see the actual math, you might not either.

In this conversation, we get into what buying real estate leads actually costs, when it can work, and why it's almost never the answer people think it is.

We unpack the video that started this whole conversation (a strong take that agents need to buy Google placements or they're making a "dumb business decision"), why the 3% conversion rate is the benchmark most agents don't want to hear, the math that says 1,500 leads a year turns into 45 deals if you're doing everything right (which is 4.2 leads a day you have to actively work).

Our take, you can outperform the agents buying leads, by developing a strong 100 person database that you show up for consistently and let the seven-year cycle plus referrals do the heavy lifting. Done right, you stop chasing strangers at a 3% conversion rate and start running a business that compounds every year you stay in it. Not to mention is a whole lot more fun!

The "Wet Blanket" Listings That Are Killing Your Real Estate Business Jul 02, 2026

Show notes

"Wet Blanket" might not immediately bring an idea to mind, but we would argue once you hear our definition at least one listing or client will come to mind immediately.

In this conversation, we get into the "wet blanket" listings that quietly wreck your business, your energy, and your life. One of the beautiful things of this business is that you get to choose who you work with. You don't have to take every listing, The ones you say no to make room for the ones you were meant to serve. It comes down to laying out your process clearly upfront so the seller can opt in with full understanding, chasing what Matt calls the "unified yes" (where their yes and your yes are the same yes), and being willing to refer out the ones that aren't in alignment. Done right, you stop dragging comforters through your day and start running a business that actually fuels your life.

Join at https://tentenths.coHosted by Matt Bonelli and Garrett Frey, Life at Ten Tenths.

#realestate #realtor #realestateagent #realestatecoaching #realestatebusiness #listings #listingagent #realestatesuccess #burnout

The Dunning-Kruger Effect in Real Estate: Why Smart Clients Make Confident Mistakes Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

You're sitting at the listing appointment. Your seller has run their home through Zillow, asked ChatGPT what it's worth, talked to a neighbor who sold last year, and read a Facebook post that confirmed everything they already believed. They walk in fully confident. And you have about ten minutes to work with that.

In this conversation, we get into the Dunning-Kruger Effect and what it actually looks like in a real estate transaction. We unpack "Mount Stupid" and "The Valley of Despair" (the two landmarks on the learning curve every client and every agent passes through), why your clients hit peak confidence the moment they know just enough to be dangerous, why this is amplified in real estate specifically because so much of the knowledge only comes from doing the work, Garrett's stock market run (and the moment "the Garrett hedge fund" got humbled), the track day version of the same curve, why the Zillow Zestimate accuracy rating is the most underused conversation-starter you have, the Facebook commenter effect and why everyone's the loudest right before they actually engage, the agent who thinks the high-producer next door is "just lucky," and the closing reframe that you don't avoid this curve. Riding it is growth.

If you are thinking you have to knock your client off the mountain to get them to where you need them to be - not quite! It simply comes down to a few things. First, acknowledging they were smart to do research up front, the best of us do. Acknowledge that they got information from somewhere they trust. And show genuine appreciation that they are coming to the table with some ideas. Then collaboratively bringing new information to the table without making them defensive. Done right, confident clients become committed clients, and committed clients close.

Want to joins us for weekly coaching - check out tentenths.co

Stop Selling Houses. Start Coaching Clients. Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

The term coach has been widely misused over the last few decades. More often than not, what some might call a coach is truly an accountability partner. But if you can tap into what it means to be a true coach, it can transform your client relationships into something that endures time.

In this conversation, we unpack the difference between a coach and an accountability partner and more importantly, how being a coach to your clients can dramatically (positively) impact your overall business.

There is a lot of confusion around what it means to be a coach. Many people have adapted the title to different scenarios that are not truly coaching.

At the end of the day, it comes down to asking better questions up front, staying curious about why your client is actually buying or selling, and showing up for the long journey of homeownership instead of just this one deal.

Done right, you stop chasing transactions and start building the kind of relationships that fuel a business for decades.

And if you are looking for a coach in your world, reach out. You probably felt it in this episode, but we have a passion for coaching. There is nothing we like more than helping people find their genius, develop their vision into reality, and create the abundance in their life and business that is waiting for them.

Why Your Listing Isn't Selling (And the $100 Bill That Explains It) Jun 22, 2026

Show notes

If you have a listing sitting on the market right now, and the price is right, the location is right, the comps support it, and it still isn't moving, this episode is for you. There's something else going on, and most agents are missing it. In this conversation, we get into the $100 bill analogy that explains why buyers keep picking the house down the street over yours. This isn't a real estate quirk (it's how people value everything). Good news is most of this is in the seller's control if you can have the right conversation upfront. It comes down to helping the seller see what the buyer sees, which is hard because they've lived with the wrinkles for so long the wrinkles have become invisible. Done right, your listing stops being the one buyers walk past and starts being the one they pick.

Host by: Matt Bonelli and Garrett Frey.

The Three Things Top Real Estate Agents Have That Most Don't Jun 18, 2026

Show notes

The magic combination of these three things is the difference between a full pipeline and wondering why your neighbor is listing with a different agent.

In this conversation, we get into the three-legged stool that is winning real estate business in this market: competency, relationship, and energy.

We unpack why competency is the foundation that has to come first (no matter how much someone likes you, they are not hiring you with the biggest asset in their life if they don't trust you to get the job done), the study we did where people knew ten realtors and would use none of them, the Walrus Ice Cream "line out the door" effect and why proof of concept matters more than agents realize, and the trick of how to build trust before someone ever hires you using a market impact report.

Stop wondering why deals are going to other agents and start being the agent your sphere can't imagine using anyone else for.

Join us in the 11 Circle for weekly coaching with Matt and Garrett, additional resources, and full access to our online community. Join at https://tentenths.co

Hosted by Matt Bonelli and Garrett Frey, Life at Ten Tenths.

#realestate #realtor #realestateagent #realestatecoaching #realestatebusiness #trust #referrals #listings #realestatesuccess

Why Most Agents Struggle to Hire (or Use AI): The Missing Piece Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

Are you like the majority of agents who know they should delegate and automate? You try to hire an assistant or implement a new AI tool, only to have it fail miserably. In the end, you spend more time fixing the mess than if you had just done it yourself in the first place. The strategy wasn't the problem. The missing piece was.

In this conversation, we get into standard operating procedures and why they're the prerequisite to almost everything you're trying to add to your business right now. We unpack why most agents have procedures locked in their head but never on paper, the restaurant dishwasher analogy Garrett uses to break a business into the small chunks you can actually systematize, the "definition of done" that turns a vague task into a finished one, the BMW brake job that paid Garrett the equivalent of $1,400 an hour because he had the experience and the process, Dan Martell's Buy Back Your Time and why we keep coming back to it, the trap of handing a brand new hire the job of writing their own SOP, and the SOP Builder we put together at tentenths.co/sop-builder to walk you through your first one.

You already have the experience. The work is just getting it out of your head and onto paper, one process at a time. It comes down to picking one routine task you did today, sitting down with the SOP Builder, and letting it ask you the questions that unlock the procedure. Done right, your business becomes something you can hand off, automate against, and trust. And that's when hiring works, AI works, and burnout finally starts going the other direction.

Process plus experience equals freedom.

Join us in the 11 Circle for weekly coaching, additional resources, and full access to our online community. Join at https://tentenths.co

Hosted by Matt Bonelli and Garrett Frey, Life at Ten Tenths.

#realestate #realtor #realestateagent #realestatecoaching #realestatebusiness #sops #standardoperatingprocedures #hiring #ai #burnout

The Real Estate Data Most Agents Ignore (And Why It's Costing You Listings) Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

If you are like most agents, you look at the housing market data once a year, attend office meetings where market data is reviewed from time to time, read the headlines that catch your eye, and call yourself informed. The problem is you are expected to be an expert in your market, but you have done little more than someone living in your town.

In this conversation, we get into our favorite tool, the one that literally makes you an expert in your market. The FHFA House Price Index has got to be the most underused tool in our business. We unpack how you can uncover regional nuances (Oakland vs. San Francisco are a great example on the latest report), how the numbers prove appreciation isn't what actually drives most real estate decisions, and what going from the top of the list to the bottom of the list really means. We get into how to pair this data with AI to spot trends, why running a blanket over a state will get you wrong every time, and the closing reality that buyers and sellers right now are choosing the agent who feels like a safe space: low drama, low stress, has answers.

We also get into what we believe is the fix. The best part: this data is free, it's published every quarter, and most of your competition isn't looking at it. It comes down to picking a handful of markets, watching the same numbers each quarter, and using what you see to start better conversations with the people in your database. Done right, you stop competing on price and start showing up as the expert worth hiring.

Join us in the 11 Circle for weekly coaching with Matt and Garrett, additional resources, and full access to our online community. Join at https://tentenths.co

Hosted by Matt Bonelli and Garrett Frey, Life at Ten Tenths.

#realestate #realtor #realestateagent #realestatecoaching #realestatedata #housingmarket #realestatebusiness #marketupdate #listings

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