Listings Are Dying. This Is What Replaced Them.
Dec 12, 2025
Written by David Dodge
In 2025, seven of my students—who have never once put a property on the MLS—will each cross $1 million in personal income. That’s not a typo. Seven figures. Zero listings.
While most agents are still fighting over the same 3–4% commission crumbs in a shrinking pie, a quiet new breed is closing $30,000–$150,000 paydays per deal—without buyer agency agreements, without Sunday open houses, without ever turning a lockbox.
They don’t “sell” houses. They engineer transactions.
I call them Transactional Engineers.
And I predict the next 1,000 millionaires in real estate will not be top producers with 200 MLS listings… They’ll be licensed agents who mastered off-market, creative, and structured deals.
This isn’t hype. It’s already happening.
The Death of the Traditional Agent Model
The numbers don’t lie.
Redfin’s 2024 agent productivity report showed the average full-time agent closed fewer than six transactions last year. Six. Commission compression, buyer-broker lawsuits, and record inventory levels are crushing the old model.
Meanwhile, off-market and creative acquisitions exploded 340% from 2021–2025, according to PropStream and ATTOM Data.
Listings are becoming a hobby. Deal engineering is becoming a profession.
What Exactly Is a “Transactional Engineer”?
A Transactional Engineer is a licensed real estate agent who earns large fees by structuring, coordinating, and monetizing deals—without ever representing a retail buyer or seller in the traditional sense.
Their four primary income streams in 2025:
- Wholesaling / Co-Wholesaling fees
- Novation fees (replacing the buyer after the contract)
- Subject-To & seller-finance packaging fees
- Disposition fees when assigning or flipping the contract to cash or creative buyers
Licensed agents have an absurd unfair advantage: E&O insurance covers you, you have MLS comp access, and in most states, you’re legally authorized to write purchase contracts. Investors pay premium fees for that credibility.
The 4 Deal Types That Pay $30K–$150K Per Transaction
- A. Classic Wholesale / Assignment:
- Average 2025 fee: $18K–$65K Deal anatomy (text): Distressed seller → Agent contract with assignment clause → Cash buyer assignee → Close & assign. One-line script that works like magic: “Mr. Seller, if I can get your house sold in the next 10–14 days with zero repairs, zero showings, and cash at closing—would you be open to a slightly lower net if it meant zero hassle?”
- B. Novation Deals – The 2025 Gold Rush:
- Average 2025 fee: $35K–$110,000. The novation is the new wholesale. You contract the property at a discount, then replace yourself with a higher-paying end buyer before closing and pocket the difference—all disclosed, all legal. Fee structure example: Contract at $300K → Novate to end buyer at $390K → $90K novation fee paid at closing by title.. One-line script: “Instead of canceling the contract when my cash buyer backed out, would you let me bring you a new buyer who can close faster and pay more than we originally agreed?”
- C. Subject-To Deals – Taking Over Payments:
- Average 2025 fee: $40K–$150K+ (when bundled). You take title subject to the existing loan, cure the seller’s problem, then sell via seller finance or lease-option.. The “due-on-sale clause” myth: 99.9% of residential loans are never called (Garn-St. Germain Act protects most transfers). Banks want payments, not houses.. One-line script: “If I took over your payments starting next month and gave you $10K–$25K cash for your equity today with no bank approval needed—would that solve your situation?”
- D. Lease-Option Sandwich + Wrap Mortgages
- Average 2025 fee: $25K–$95K + monthly cashflow. Buy on lease-option → Re-lease-option at higher price/rent → Pocket down payment + spread.. Cashflow math example: Buy @ $1,800/mo payment → Tenant-buyer pays $2,400/mo → $600/mo spread + $35K non-refundable option fee up front.
Your Exact 60-Day Playbook to Your First $30K+ Non-MLS Deal
- Pick one deal type above and one farm area (I give heat-map cities inside Real Estate Skool)
- Build a cash/creative buyer list of 10 serious players (I hand you mine)
- Generate leads that still work in late 2025:
- Cold text (82% open rate)
- Probate & pre-foreclosure
- Driving for dollars + Mail
- Tired landlord, “I buy with your terms” PPC
- Use my exact scripts & disclosures
- Lock the deal with agent-friendly addendums (included):
- Novation Agreement
- Subject-To Authorization to Release Info
- Assignment of Contract
- Close remotely, get paid by title, zero liability (E&O covers you)
Most students close their first $30K+ deal inside 45 days following this checklist.
Why This Trend Only Accelerates 2026–2028
- Interest rates stay elevated → more sellers can’t refinance or list
- NAR settlement aftermath → retail buyers refuse to sign buyer agreements
- Inventory glut → traditional listings sit 60–90+ days → sellers beg for creative exits
The motivated seller pool is about 5X.
The Million-Dollar Question
The real estate industry is reaching an irreversible inflection point, and by 2027, the profession will look nothing like it does today. The traditional model—built on chasing MLS listings, hosting open houses, and competing on commission rate—is quietly collapsing under the weight of commission compression, legal upheaval, excess inventory, and a generation of buyers who no longer see value in paying buyer-agent fees. Most agents will continue doing what they’ve always done, watching their closing counts dwindle, and their margins evaporate, until many are forced to leave the industry entirely or settle for part-time income that barely covers dues and errors-and-omissions insurance.
At the same time, a smaller, far more profitable group is emerging: licensed professionals who no longer sell houses in the conventional sense, but instead engineer high-six- and seven-figure transactions outside the MLS. These Transactional Engineers solve complex seller problems with creative structures—novations, subject-to acquisitions, seller-financed exits, and lease-option sandwiches—and collect fees that dwarf traditional commissions, often without ever setting foot in the property or dealing with retail buyers. Their income is no longer tied to market cycles, interest rates, or days-on-market averages. Their only limiting factor is how many distressed or motivated sellers they can reach and how competently they can structure solutions.
This divergence is not coming—it is already here. Every week, another agent in markets across the country closes a $40,000+ off-market deal that would have been impossible under the old playbook. The tools, contracts, buyer networks, and lead sources required to execute these transactions are mature and widely available. The sellers who need creative exits are multiplying faster than the industry can serve them. What remains scarce is the number of licensed professionals willing to step away from the familiar and master the new model before their competitors do.
In the end, the next three years will separate those who adapt from those who cling to a dying paradigm. One group will look back and wonder how everything changed so quickly. The other will wonder why it took everyone else so long to notice. The choice is yours, and the clock is running. The next 1,000 millionaires in real estate have already made theirs.
