First Year Real Estate Agent Plan — 90-Day Checklist & Daily Schedule

Days 1 to 30 — build the foundation

Nothing here is glamorous and all of it compounds.

The database dump: Write down 150 names before you do anything else. Phone contacts, social followers, old coworkers, church, kids' sports, your former industry. This list is your business for two years.
The announcement: Not a graphic. An individual message: 'I got my license and I'm with [Brokerage]. I'm not asking you for anything — I just didn't want you to hear it from somebody else.'
Preview 25 homes: You cannot speak with authority about a market you have not walked. Twenty-five in thirty days is one a day with weekends off.
Pick one lender: Not three. One loan officer who answers the phone at 7pm and will explain a denial to your client. Take them to lunch.
Set your money floor: Six months of personal expenses in cash, and a separate account where 30 percent of every check goes for taxes the day it lands.

Days 31 to 60 — start conversations

Lead generation is a scheduled activity, not a mood.

The daily block: 8:30 to 10:30, five days a week, no exceptions. Phone, door, or in person. Email does not count as a conversation.
The number: Ten real conversations a day. Not ten dials — ten humans who talked back.
Open houses: Two per weekend, other agents' listings included. Ask every visitor the same two questions: how long have you been looking, and have you talked to a lender?
The follow-up rule: Every conversation ends with a scheduled next step in your calendar before you hang up. No next step means the lead is already dead.
Weekly scoreboard: Conversations, appointments set, appointments held, agreements signed. Four numbers, every Friday, written by hand.

Free through September

Studying alone is the hard way. Sit in on a live Deal Clinic — free.

Every Wednesday at 10:00 AM Central, Sarah Richards — a principal broker with 23 years in Tennessee real estate — walks through real deals, real contracts, and the exam questions students miss most. No card, no course purchase. Just show up.

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Days 61 to 90 — build the machine

Turn what worked into a repeatable week.

Audit the source: Where did every appointment actually come from? Do more of that one thing and cut the rest without sentimentality.
Pick one farm: One neighborhood, 200 to 400 homes, and touch it monthly for two years. Switching farms every quarter is why farming 'doesn't work' for most agents.
Start the 33-touch: Your database hears from you monthly with something useful — closed sales, tax deadlines, a contractor referral. Never a 'thinking of selling?' blast.
Get a coach or a room: The single strongest predictor of first-year survival is weekly accountability to someone who will look at your four numbers and ask why.

The money math

Run these numbers before you quit your job, not after.

Work backward: Income goal, divided by your average net commission, equals closings needed. Divide by 12 for a monthly pace.
Conversion reality: New agents typically need somewhere near 50 real conversations for one appointment, and several appointments for one closing. Track your own ratio for 90 days and stop guessing.
Your true costs: Dues, MLS, lockbox, E&O, brokerage fees, car, phone, and marketing. Total them for the year and divide by twelve — that's your monthly break-even before you eat.
The tax mistake: You are self-employed now. Nobody withholds anything. Move 30 percent out of every commission check the day it clears, into an account with no debit card.

Free through September

Studying alone is the hard way. Sit in on a live Deal Clinic — free.

Reserve with your email and we'll send the link each week. Unsubscribe anytime.

More playbooks

FSBO Scripts: What to Say to a For Sale By OwnerThe first call, the door knock, the commission objection, and the six-week follow-up.Expired Listing Scripts That Do Not Sound Like Every Other CallThe first call, the price conversation, and the listings you should refuse.The Price Reduction Conversation, Word for WordSet the trigger on day one so the reduction is a plan, not a fight.The Buyer Consultation Script: Qualify Before You DriveOne hour at the table saves forty hours in the car.

Income, expenses, and conversion ratios vary widely by market, brokerage split, and effort. These are planning frameworks, not income projections or guarantees.