5 Real Estate Lies Hurting Your Business

By Andy Mulholland

He has a background in leading a top real estate team for over a decade and an understanding of the critical role of clear financials, Andy, along with his wife Ellyn, a seasoned real estate CFO, co-founded Simple-Numbers.

I’ve sat down with hundreds of real estate teams to review their quarterly numbers, and I see what’s working and what’s failing. Because of my experience, I have seen these teams make the same mistakes repeatedly. The worst part is that team leaders often tell themselves lies that keep them stuck. They make them work harder for less money. If your team feels like this, it’s time for the truth. Today, I’ll show you the common lies and how you can fix them:

Lie #1: “I need more agents to be profitable.” The truth is you don’t have a team size problem but a cost of sale problem. Many team leaders believe more agents equals more money; however, if you’re paying agents too much, adding more of them only increases your expenses. More agents also mean more staff, tech, and overhead. My advice is to fix your cost of sale first. Make sure your business is profitable even if you stop selling homes yourself. If your numbers are right, every deal you close is extra—not survival.

Lie #2: “I have to spend more to make more.” You’ve heard it before, but this thinking kills profit. If you don’t have revenue first, you’re just burning cash.

Instead of spending more, try to lead with revenue and not with expenses. Profitable teams grow their income first. Then they spend—smartly.

Lie #3: “I need to pay agents a high split to keep them.” If agents only cared about high splits, they’d all be at 100% commission brokerages, but they’re not. Agents value leadership, support, and opportunity. If you have to overpay to keep them, you aren’t offering enough value—or you don’t know how to communicate it. To solve this, set a split that ensures your profitability. Then build value through leadership, training, and systems. With this solution, the right agents will stay and the wrong ones will leave.

Lie #4: “I need more value before I can change my splits.” Many team leaders think, “I’ll fix my splits once I have better leads, training, and tech,” but that’s backwards. You don’t need a fancy office or endless marketing tools to justify a fair split. Agents also want to learn from you and grow under your leadership. So, instead of adding value by spending more, get your split right first. Otherwise, you’ll never have the cash flow to improve.

Lie #5: “I give agents the biggest split because I’m generous.” You think you’re helping your agents by giving them most of the split. However, you are just losing more cash flow for your business. If you’re barely profitable, you can’t invest in better support. If the market shifts, you could lose everything and they lose with you. A profitable model benefits everyone. It gives agents better tools, more leverage, and a stronger future. That’s real generosity.

Fixing your numbers is the key to building a real business. Set the right splits, lead with revenue, and create a model that works for you—not one that depends on you. A profitable business gives you freedom, stability, and a future.

If you’re ready to stop running in circles and start making real profit, email me at andy@simple-numbers.com. I’ll help ensure you are tracking your numbers correctly so you can build a business that works—without you having to sell homes to keep it alive.