Why this top 1% agent still spends $9500 a month mailing a newsletter

Real estate agents, can we talk? No, I don’t want to know how much my home is worth, but thank you for asking. It’s your marketing. I get it, you think you’re doing “what works.” There’s just one problem; so is everyone else. Don’t take this personally, but there is a distinct possibility you are boring your audience to tears.

Here’s how to find out: If you covered up the headshots, could you pick your flyers or Instagram posts out of a lineup of 50 other agents’? If not, you might have a problem. It’s “what works” today, but in an endless sea of AI-driven copycats, it won’t work for long.

Ben Lee’s marketing strategy worked ten years ago, works today and will continue to drive leads even after the robot uprising. We recently sat down with him to find out how. He shared why starting his career in the depths of the great recession was a blessing, how he earned a free MBA at Barnes & Noble and why he still spends nearly $10,000 a month on a printed newsletter while other agents chase TikTok views.

Ben Lee: By the numbers

• Market: West side of Los Angeles
• Niche: Cheviot Hills and surrounding areas
• 2024 sales volume + sides: $68,870,000 + 23.3 sides
• 2024 national RealTrends Verified ranking: 480
• Highest ROI software: iContact
• Primary lead generation strategy: A printed monthly newsletter + referrals

Working seven days a week for six months, for one deal

If you interview as many agents as I have over the years, you’ll start to notice trends for what creates success. Resilience, a tireless work ethic and an engaging personality are obvious. Still, there’s something else many of the best agents have in common: they started their careers during the Great Recession of 2008. Ryan Serhant and Sean Moudry are two examples that come to mind, but there are dozens more.

Ben Lee is no exception. When I asked him about his first few years in real estate, he was quick to point out that cutting his teeth as an agent in one of the worst markets of the last century was harrowing, but it’s also what fueled his grind. He worked 10 to 12-hour days, seven days a week, for the first six months of 2008 and only closed one deal:

“I remember making no money in 2008 until June, when I got my first commission check. It was on a lease for $6,200. I brought it home, and we just started laughing. We were looking at this check, laughing, saying, ‘This doesn’t even move the needle.’”

While real estate coaches and self-help gurus push positive thinking, Lee was motivated by something else: fear.

“I’m actually very grateful I got into the business exactly when I did. It was terrifying, but fear pushed me to get up every morning, put in the hours and eventually build a real career.

I really like real estate, and I love sales, but I was terrified about not being able to provide for my family. That’s what gets you up at 6 am, gets you into the office before everybody else and gets you dialing numbers.”

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Earning a free MBA… at Barnes & Noble

With few showings on his calendar, Lee decided to spend his afternoons learning after tirelessly working the phones all morning. As a former real estate attorney, his knowledge was already extensive, but he knew that learning more would give him a significant advantage over other agents.

Instead of heading to a local college (too costly with only a trickle of money coming in), he did the next best thing; he went to a bookstore and read every real estate book on the shelves:

“I literally treated Barnes & Noble like my office — free refills on coffee, free books to read and a comfortable chair. I sat there for hours every day studying real estate until I felt like I had earned my own MBA. I would get dressed in business casual and say, ‘Honey, I’m going to the office,’ then sit there for four or five hours reading every real estate book I could find. I took notes, never bought the books and it was like going to the library with coffee and cushy chairs. I did that for six months, then I’d go make phone calls.”

The takeaway here for new agents should be obvious, but it bears repeating: study real estate as if your future depends on it because it does.

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Building personal connections, one letter at a time

After getting mediocre results from postcards, door hangers and flyers, a chance conversation with a friend led Lee to a simple yet powerful epiphany that transformed his perspective on marketing; all marketing is personal. He decided to start writing letters to the homeowners in his tight-knit community in Cheviot Hills.

Like all brilliant marketing ideas, the results didn’t come right away:

“Very early in my career, my wife, who was a TV writer, and I started writing letters to the neighborhood. At first, I didn’t know if anyone even got them, but then at an open house, someone came in quoting the letter back to me. People were actually reading it.

So we doubled down, turned it into a full newsletter, and made it community-oriented with stories, local businesses and raffles. Sixteen years later, we’re still doing it every month.”

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Why storytelling is still the best marketing strategy for 2025

All marketing is personal. Glossy “just sold” postcards and trendy Instagram templates might keep you “top of mind.” Still, with AI driving marketing to the lowest common denominator and everyone else in your market doing “what works,” that probably won’t last long.

While the novelty factor of getting a printed newsletter from a Realtor in 2025 likely plays a part in Lee’s success, he told us that telling stories that actually resonate with your local community is what really moved the needle. Here’s Lee:

“Instead of slick ads, we wrote letters about our family and our experiences in the neighborhood. People started quoting them back to me at open houses, and I realized personal storytelling was far more powerful than any digital campaign.”

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A long-term investment in authentic connection

Realizing he’d struck marketing gold, Lee continued to invest his time, effort and money in his newsletter. Over the years, his returns compounded. Closed deals turned into referrals, and referrals turned into something even more valuable: authentic connections with his neighbors. Today, thanks to his humble newsletter, Lee is something of a local celebrity in Cheviot Hills—no small feat in a neighborhood that has also been home to Lucille Ball, William Shatner and Jennifer Aniston.

“It’s not cheap — about $9,500 a month — but I find that it is extraordinarily effective. People read it. I’ve had people come into open houses quoting our newsletter back to me. That kind of connection is worth every penny. We started with 2,300 newsletters, then increased to 6,000, and now we’re at approximately 10,000. Every month, for 16 years. It costs money, but it works, and I’m extraordinarily proud of them.”

The full picture: Should you invest $10,000 a month in a newsletter?

Maybe? Anything that helps you stand out from the crowd of cookie-cutter “AI slop” marketing will help in 2025, but that’s not the point. Ben Lee might have discovered the holy grail of real estate marketing with his newsletter. Still, it was his willingness to share about his family and focus on storytelling over selling that made the difference.

Storytelling isn’t limited to print. You don’t have to spend $9,500 a month to get similar results. Another Los Angeles Realtor, Kati Cattaneo, went mega-viral on TikTok “oversharing” about her experience rebuilding after the LA fires and still gets the majority of her leads from the platform.

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Know an agent who is thriving despite the odds and has actionable insights to share? We’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us here: [email protected].