You’re Sitting on a $100K Asset — But Most Realtors Ignore It

The Most Overlooked $100K Opportunity in Real Estate

Not long ago, I was rereading Russell Brunson’s old rule-of-thumb about email:“Every subscriber on your list is worth about $1 per month.”

At first glance, that feels like a small number. But if you do the math, it’s not so small.

A list of 1,000 people? That’s $1,000 per month — or $12,000 a year.

At 3,000 subscribers, you’re looking at $36,000 annually.

And at 4,166? You’ve built yourself a $50,000-per-year asset in a channel you probably haven't thought about in years.

That got me thinking — does this apply in real estate? Could a solo agent or small team actually generate six figures from a list of email subscribers?

So I did the math. And the answer surprised me.

Real estate breaks the $1 rule — in a good way.

When you account for long sales cycles, high commissions, and the power of repeat/referral business, each subscriber is actually worth more than $1/month.

Somewhere between $2 and $4 per subscriber is a much more realistic figure.

But here’s the problem:

Almost no one in real estate is building a list that large.

Most agents I talk to have a few hundred names, tops.

A handful have a thousand.

Rarely do I meet someone with more than that — and when I do, the list is cold and untouched.

Which means this:

Even though email is one of the highest-ROI marketing channels available to realtors today, it’s largely being ignored.

Email isn’t a tool. It’s a legacy.

Your email list is more than a way to send newsletters.

It’s a relationship bank.

It’s a trust machine.

It’s a predictable-income engine that gets stronger the more you feed it.

And just like a good investment property, it needs care and consistency.

You wouldn’t buy a duplex and let it sit empty for five years.

You’d maintain it. Improve it. Leverage it.

Your list should be treated the same way.

What would it take to build a list that pays you $100K/year?

Let’s say your average commission is $5,000.

That means you need 20 transactions a year to hit $100K in GCI.

If even 2% of your engaged email list converts annually, you’d need about 1,000 engaged subscribers.

But here’s the catch: not everyone opens every email.

If only 25% of your list is consistently engaging, then you actually need 3,500 to 4,000 total subscribers to hit your goal.

That number feels big — but it’s possible.

In fact, with a solid lead magnet, smart targeting, and a little patience, many agents could build that kind of list in under 12 months.

The key is consistency.

List-building isn’t a sprint — it’s a discipline.

This is the part no one talks about.

While everyone’s busy trying to book the next call or close the next deal, a small number of agents are quietly building digital assets that will pay them for years.

It’s not flashy. It’s not trendy.

But it works.

Email builds trust at scale.

It gives you a platform you own — not one you rent from Zuckerberg.

And when done well, it gives you the kind of predictability most realtors only dream about.

Want more predictable income? Start here.

There’s nothing wrong with chasing leads. But if that’s all you ever do, you’ll always be hustling.

The smarter play?

Build something that compounds.

Your email list is one of the few assets in your business that does that — if you let it.

So the question isn’t, “Is it worth it?”

The question is, “What’s the cost of not building it?”