How the Top 1% of Agents Are Finding Deals Everyone Else Missed

The Top 10 Strategies Top Agents Are Using to Close More Deals in 2025

If you’re still relying ONLY on postcards, open houses, or cold calls to drum up business, you’re already behind. The top 1% of agents in 2025 aren’t waiting for the market to change — they’re proactively finding opportunities others overlook. Meanwhile, most agents are still reactive. They’re accidentally successful without a clear system, strategy, or plan. They chase shiny objects, hoping for a quick fix. But in real estate, there is no easy button — everything has a learning curve, a price, or a challenge attached.

The agents who are truly thriving right now? They’ve done their homework. They’ve built a plan — researched, organized, tested, and improved through real action. They’ve committed to becoming intentional business owners, not just salespeople.

And above all, they’ve got GRIT — Greatness is a Result of Intentional Tenacity. It’s what separates agents who give up too soon… from those who push through long enough to get to the other side of success.

In this post, I’m breaking down 10 specific strategies that today’s smartest, most forward-thinking agents are using to grow — even in a tight, uncertain market. If you’re serious about becoming one of them, start here.

In a world of 7% mortgage rates, offering buyers the chance to take over a seller’s 3% loan is like dropping a gold nugget in a field of gravel — but most agents aren’t even looking for it.

Sellers with assumable mortgages have a competitive edge. Listings that advertise an assumable loan stand out and can command more interest. Buyers benefit too: an assumable mortgage could potentially stretch their buying power by 20% or more. For example:

• At a 7% rate, a $2,500/month mortgage might get you a $375K home.
• At 3%, that same $2,500/month could afford a $470K+ home.

That’s a $95K jump in purchasing power — without increasing monthly payment.

Use tools like Roam and Retro Rate to identify and support assumable mortgage transactions. These platforms help coordinate the process and can even help bridge the gap between loan balance and purchase price.

Pro Tip: Create a lead magnet titled: “Homes for Sale with a 3% Mortgage” and market it through social, ads, and your database.

When buyers hesitate and sellers stall, rent-to-own (RTO) can connect the dots.

With RTO:

• The seller wins with a sale or potentially some monthly rental income, if they Seller finance.
• The investor wins with a leased investment property.
• The renter wins with a path to ownership.
• You win as the deal-maker who put it together.

Many renters want to buy — they just don’t have a plan.

Programs like Divvy Homes and Landis offer structured RTO programs that include financial tools and credit coaching. You become the connector.

It also works for buyers who want to wait for rates to drop — they can lock in the home now, move in today, and finance later.

Most sellers crave speed, certainty, and simplicity. Offering a cash offer doesn’t mean every client will take it — but it does mean you’ll start more conversations.

Your job is to bring every offer. Let the seller decide.

Cash offers:

• Generate leads
• Open doors to hesitant sellers
• Give you an edge in listing appointments

Pro Tip: Build a network of cash investors or partner with an iBuyer. Walk into listings with offers in hand and show that you’re already working.

The #1 objection from would-be sellers? “Where will I go?”

Answer it with bridge loan and trade-in programs like:

• Knock
• Homeward

These tools let clients:

• Tap into equity
• Buy their next home first
• Sell their current home after they move

You become the strategist, not just the listing agent.

Spray-and-pray marketing is dead. Top agents use Google PPC ads (including on your Google Business Profile), Facebook/Instagram targeting, and retargeting funnels to reach:

• Locked-in homeowners
• High-income renters
• Downsizers

Ads don’t just reach strangers — they remind your sphere of what you offer.

Don’t want to go it alone? DM me — I know trusted vendors who specialize in this.

Real estate is triggered by life transitions, not just timing.

Target the “D’s”:

• Death
• Divorce
• Diapers
• Diamonds
• Diplomas

Use tools like TrustScout to mine probate and estate leads. Build mini-niches around major life events and position yourself as the expert who shows up with empathy and solutions.

Want more hidden Data D’s? Join my email list to be the first to get my next blog + video.

When I started in real estate, I had zero. But I had one powerful thing: relationships.

As a former bankruptcy attorney, I leveraged my connections with other attorneys and trustees to get real estate referrals. Because I was referred by someone they trusted, the clients trusted me. And that led to a steady, organic stream of business.

Build trust with 2–3 professionals (divorce attorneys, probate attorneys, financial advisors) and watch your pipeline grow.

You don’t have to pay for those leads. You just show up and serve.

Many buyers want to buy. They just don’t love the payment.

Help them ease into ownership with:

• 2-1 or 3-2-1 rate buydowns
• Seller-paid closing costs or repairs

Learn more about 3-2-1 buydowns

Position the offer like this:

“Seller offering 2-1 buydown — save $8,400 in the first 2 years.”

That’s value. And it gets attention.

You’re not a middleperson. You’re a problem-solver.

Position yourself as the agent who:

• Knows creative financing tools
• Connects clients with the right vendors
• Creates options, not obstacles

Instead of saying: “Let me know if you’re thinking of buying or selling…”
Say: “If you’re stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure what to do — I have options.”

When I started The Kendall Bonner Team, I went all in on Google.

I didn’t have a brand or a list. But I committed to:

• SEO blogs
• Google reviews (ask for 5 stars, always!)
• Google PPC
• Google Local Service Ads
• Google Business Profile

And I want you to try something: go to Google and search “Best Tampa Real Estate Agents” — and see who shows up #1 in the organic search!

That’s what happens when you show up on purpose.

Create content that converts. Ask for reviews before closing. And always show up to serve, whether someone buys or not.

Want to build with us?
👉 Apply to join The Kendall Bonner Team

Please don’t try all 10 of these at once.

Start with ONE. Go deep, not wide. Learn. Master. Grow. (That’s one of our team core values, by the way.) In fact, how would you like a Cheat Seet & Checklist to help you go deeper on these strategies?  I got you!

Once you’ve nailed it, layer in a second that complements it. Then a third.

The biggest mistake I see agents make? Quitting right before it gets good.

Remember Napoleon Hill’s story in Think and Grow Rich: the man who gave up just 3 feet from gold.

This business will challenge you. But it will also reward you.

The gold is there.
You just have to keep digging.