Play Bigger in Real Estate with Raquel Q.

Why You’re Stuck at $200K and Can’t Break Through

• Raquel Quinet • Episode 354

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If you've built a solid real estate business, you're closing deals, and from the outside, things look successful—but deep down, you're feeling stuck or maxed out—this episode is for you.

I know what it's like to hit a hidden ceiling. You’re doing all the things—more hours, more hustle—but your income isn’t growing and you're feeling the pressure mount. In this episode, I break down why so many agents plateau around the $200K mark and exactly what it takes to finally break through.

We’ll talk about:

  • The real reason more deals won’t give you more freedom
  • Why being the bottleneck is killing your growth (even if you have help)
  • The myth of working harder vs. building smarter
  • What needs to shift in your identity, systems, and structure to lead like an Agent CEO
  • How to reclaim your time, scale with intention, and stop running on empty

This is the shift from running around reacting to everything to creating a business that scales and gives you your life back. No fluff, just clarity, precision, and strategy.

If this resonates, I want to personally invite you to book your Agent CEO Audit—a private strategy session to help you finally get unstuck and step into your next level. We’ll diagnose what’s keeping you stuck, identify your biggest growth levers, and build a smarter plan that works for your goals.

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Thank you for joining me on this episode of The Raquel Show, and remember, keep pushing your limits to achieve your goals.

For updates and collaborations or opportunities, go to www.LetsPlayBigger.com

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https://raquelq.com/podcast/

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Raquel Quinet (00:00.0)
You don't need to work harder. You just need clarity. You need the right strategy and execution, just not scattered effort. Because growth doesn't come from pressure, it comes from precision. And this is where the real shift happens. You stop operating from urgency and you start installing systems that support sustainable growth. 

Raquel Quinet (00:24.854)
You move from reacting to everything to running your day with revenue driving routines, which we've talked about a lot on this podcast. And you stop surviving transaction to transaction and start leading from strategy. That shift is the big difference between staying stuck in a cycle and finally building a business that scales and gives you your life back. 

Raquel Quinet (01:26.43)
Welcome back to the Raquel show. This show is for entrepreneurs who want to play bigger in business and in life. And today's episode is for real estate agents who have built a solid business. Yep. It's for agents who have built a solid business. You know, you're closing deals, you're making six figures and people look at you successful, but deep down inside you feel like you're hitting a ceiling. You're asking yourself, why isn't my income growing Raquel? Why am I working more, but not moving forward? And if you've ever thought, 

Raquel Quinet (01:56.418)
I'm doing everything, but something isn't clicking. This episode is for you because we're going to break down exactly why so many real estate agents get stuck around the 200,000 mark and how to finally break through it. Let's talk about this hidden ceiling in real estate. It's when your business looks good on paper, you're closing deals, you're staying busy and people even recognize your name. 

Raquel Quinet (02:24.62)
You may even be on stages, but inside it feels like you're stuck. You're maxed out on your time. Your income isn't growing and you are hitting a plateau. And no matter how many hours you put in, it's not changing. You might be even on the verge of burnout. That's because most people, here's the clicker. That's because most people are still operating. 

Raquel Quinet (02:52.868)
from the same systems and the same strategy and the same mindset that got them to 75 to 100,000. Yep. I'm going to say it again because most people are still operating from the same system, the same strategy, the same mindset that got them from 75,000 to 100,000. But now they're trying to scale with a foundation, believe it or not, that wasn't designed for it. It's like upgrading your wardrobe. 

Raquel Quinet (03:22.788)
but never clearing out your closet. And now there's no room for what's next. Here's the big myth in real estate. More deals equals more freedom. How many of you guys have actually heard that? If I just do more deals, I'm gonna have more freedom. That is the furthest from the truth. Because does it? If you dropped an extra 10 deals on your calendar this month, or if I gave you 10 hot 

Raquel Quinet (03:52.34)
solid leads right now, would you celebrate? Or would you have the crap moment, completely overwhelmed, anxious, have anxiety? Let's be real. Most agents would panic because they don't have the systems, they don't have the support, and they don't have the structure to handle the volume. And that's the real issue. Quite honestly, I think a lot more agents feel this way and are scared to admit it. 

Raquel Quinet (04:22.317)
We want this big business, but we're afraid of servicing it. More deals don't solve a broken model. It only exposes it. The goal isn't to add more transactions. It's to create a business that can scale with ease. And that means less of doing everything yourself and building more systems that do the heavy lifting for you. That's the biggest difference, my friends, between 

Raquel Quinet (04:51.829)
an agent and being an agent CEO for as long as I've been helping agents since my first team that I had built in 2005. I want to break it down. There are three most common reasons why people get stuck at the 200,000 level without even realizing it. By the way, the first place where agents get stuck is climbing. 

Raquel Quinet (05:17.667)
to that 200, 300,000 mark. It's rare that even agents get to 500,000 and let alone that million dollar agent and still be able to do it year after year. But I want to share why. Number one is you're still doing it all yourself. Every lead, every showing, every transaction still has to run through you. And maybe you've told yourself, it's just easier if I do it, Raquel. No one else can do it better than me. 

Raquel Quinet (05:47.245)
But here's the truth, that mindset is quietly robbing you of time, it's robbing you of energy, and it's robbing you of growth. And even if you tried hiring support, if the leverage and your assistance and your support team isn't locked in, you're gonna find yourself cleaning up their work or taking it back entirely. 

Raquel Quinet (06:11.169)
I remember my CEO used to say, did they just give you the job back? And it would be that simple reminder of, did they just give you that job back and you took it on because you thought that it was much quicker for you. And then he'd ask me, why did you hire them in the first place? And that keeps you trapped in a loop doing, fixing, and managing while the big moves stay on pause. 

Raquel Quinet (06:41.003)
You've become the bottleneck without realizing it. How many of you guys could relate to what I just said? What would change if you trusted the systems more than the scramble? Because when you install the right kind of people, the right kind of leverage, growth becomes the default, not the hustle. Number two is you haven't upgraded your identity. And what I mean by that is you've grown, but you're 

Raquel Quinet (07:09.055)
Internal operating system is still running at the 80,000 version of you. You've outgrown the role, but your calendar, your habits, your decision making hasn't caught up. Scaling isn't about doing more. It's about thinking differently, how you present yourself, how you make decisions, how you value your time and energy. This isn't about working harder. It's about becoming the kind of person who leads, who communicates and who executes at a higher frequency. 

Raquel Quinet (07:38.869)
Your next level requires a new lens. Are you willing to see yourself differently? And number three is you don't have the structure yet. You start the day with a plan, but then the fires come, the emails, the DMS, the distractions, they pull you all off course. We all are guilty of it. You are in constant motion, but you feel stuck, busy, but not building without structure. You end up reacting to everything. My friends, 

Raquel Quinet (08:08.425)
And eventually you're helping everyone else build their dream while yours sits on the shelf. But when you have structure, you reclaim that power, not just how you respond. What if every hour worked in your company or in your team or in your business was building something for your business long-term? 

Raquel Quinet (08:34.987)
not just being productive. The shift, it's the difference between running from showing to showing and running a business with structure, with systems and scale. You see the next level in your business is not about doing more. It's about doing the right things on repeat with intention and that builds momentum. You don't need to be on every platform. I know I said it, there's a lot of successful agents and I have a lot of successful clients that are only on one platform. 

Raquel Quinet (09:04.373)
You don't need to say yes to every opportunity. You don't need to work harder. You just need clarity. You need the right strategy and execution, just not scattered effort. Because growth doesn't come from pressure, it comes from precision. And this is where the real shift happens. You stop operating from urgency and you start installing systems that support sustainable growth. 

Raquel Quinet (09:33.099)
You move from reacting to everything to running your day with revenue driving routines, which we've talked about a lot on this podcast. And you stop surviving transaction to transaction and start leading from strategy. That shift is the big difference between staying stuck in a cycle and finally building a business that scales and gives you your life back. And that's exactly why we've created 

Raquel Quinet (10:02.327)
the agent CEO audit. It's because when you see your business from the CEO lens, you stop fixing surface problems and start upgrading the whole operating system. The CEO audit is a one-on-one strategic session for real estate agents who are ready to grow past their current ceiling without working longer hours or building a massive team. Believe it or not. 

Raquel Quinet (10:30.723)
I have helped so many agents build a massive business, an Epic life without a massive team. And so here's what we do in this audit is we diagnose what's keeping you stuck. We identify your top growth levers and we map out something that is smarter and more aligned to the path you actually want to scale. So if you are ready to step into your next, 

Raquel Quinet (10:56.467)
level of leadership in your business, I want you to go to www.letsplaybigger.com and book your agent CEO audit. Most of you know that I am no longer taking one-on-one clients, so this would be a perfect opportunity if you've ever wanted to work with me on your next business move. This isn't a sales call. It's a business clarity session designed to help you operate like the CEO that you are becoming. 

Raquel Quinet (11:24.483)
I want to thank you all for hanging out with me today and tuning into another quick no fluff episode of the Raquel show. And until next time, keep taking bold actions and keep playing bigger my friends.