Jacksonville Realtors shift back to basics as referrals drive sales

As Jacksonville's real estate market navigates shifting inventory levels and affordability pressures, agents across Northeast Florida are being reminded that the most productive path to sustained business may also be the least glamorous: answer the phone, show up in person, and stay in touch with past clients.

New data from the National Association of Realtors shows that repeat business and referrals from past customers together account for a median 90% of brokerage sales volume nationwide, while paid advertising, social media, and open houses each drive less than 10% of transactions. The findings, published in NAR's 2025 Profile of Real Estate Firms and highlighted by Florida Realtors, are prompting agents to reconsider where they invest their time and marketing dollars in an increasingly competitive environment.

What the numbers show

According to the NAR study, the typical real estate brokerage reported that repeat business accounted for a median 46% of sales volume, while referrals from past customers generated another 44%. Each of the other business sources measured in the survey—including social media, online advertising, and open houses—accounted for less than 10% of volume.

The data comes from NAR's annual survey of real estate firms and was reported in a September 2 article by Florida Realtors. The findings were underscored by Eric Bramlett, broker-owner of Bramlett Partners in Central Texas, whose firm reported $886 million in rolling 12-month production across 1,528 transaction sides and 150 agents. Bramlett credited routine client-contact habits—not flashy marketing—with driving that growth.

Bramlett's firm uses software and artificial intelligence to track birthdays, gifts, and upcoming outreach, but he draws a firm line at automating personal conversations. "The one thing I never automate is the call itself," Bramlett wrote in HousingWire.

What it means for Jacksonville agents

The national data arrives as Northeast Florida agents navigate a market marked by strong in-migration but constrained inventory, particularly in high-demand school zones in St. Johns County and along coastal areas. Agents who rely heavily on paid lead-generation services face a recurring cost: every new transaction requires fresh spending to refill the pipeline.

By contrast, repeat business and referrals represent what Bramlett calls a compounding asset. An agent who closes a transaction today and maintains contact with that client may generate additional sales years later without additional acquisition cost. In a region where buyers frequently relocate from other states and lack established local networks, a trusted agent recommendation carries significant weight.

The shift in focus also has implications for how brokerages allocate training and technology budgets. Platforms that automate birthday reminders, quarterly newsletters, and annual check-ins can help agents maintain contact at scale, but the NAR data suggests that personal touchpoints—phone calls, in-person attendance at closings and inspections, and one-on-one coffee meetings—are what convert past clients into repeat customers and referral sources.

How referral-based business works in practice

Bramlett outlined a set of straightforward practices that his firm has incorporated into agents' workweeks: call past customers on their birthdays, share useful information with your sphere of contacts every quarter, schedule an annual review or coffee meeting, attend closings and inspections in person, and answer the phone when customers call.

These habits are not new, but the NAR data quantifies their cumulative impact. In a market where the typical agent competes not only with local colleagues but also with national discount brokerages and iBuyer platforms, the ability to generate business organically—without paying for each new lead—can determine long-term viability.

For buyers and sellers, the implication is that the agent they choose for one transaction is likely to remain their point of contact for future moves, and their recommendations will shape the agent choices of friends and family. The data suggests that most consumers prefer to work with someone they already know or someone recommended by a trusted contact, rather than responding to online ads or attending open houses hosted by unfamiliar agents.

Implications for brokerage business models

The findings also raise questions about the sustainability of business models that depend on paid lead generation. Real estate lead-generation companies—often called "lead aggregators"—charge agents for contact information of prospective buyers and sellers, typically on a per-lead or subscription basis. If 90% of an agent's business ultimately comes from repeat clients and referrals, the return on investment for paid leads may be lower than commonly assumed.

Brokerages that emphasize agent training in client retention and relationship management may be better positioned to help agents build durable books of business. In Northeast Florida's growth corridors—particularly St. Johns County, where new residents often arrive without local connections—an agent who systematically nurtures a sphere of influence can build a referral network that generates transactions for years.

The data does not suggest that paid advertising, social media, or open houses are without value; those channels still account for a portion of business and may be especially important for newer agents building an initial client base. But the NAR figures indicate that once an agent has completed a critical mass of transactions, the highest-return activity is likely to be staying in touch with past clients.

The role of technology

Bramlett's firm uses customer-relationship management (CRM) software and artificial intelligence to track client birthdays, preferences, and outreach schedules. These tools can remind an agent when it's time to send a gift, schedule a call, or check in on a past client's anniversary of purchase. But Bramlett is explicit that technology should support—not replace—personal contact. Automated emails and text messages can maintain visibility, but they do not build the trust that leads to referrals.

In Jacksonville, where the real estate market includes a mix of military families on short assignment cycles, retirees relocating from the Northeast, and young families moving for jobs or schools, the reasons clients return to the market vary widely. An agent who stays in regular contact is positioned to learn when a past client is ready to upsize, downsize, or refer a colleague who is transferring to the area.

Technology also enables agents to maintain contact with a larger sphere. An agent who manually tracked birthdays and annual reviews might realistically manage outreach to 50 or 100 past clients; CRM software can scale that to several hundred. The NAR data suggests that investment in those tools—and the discipline to use them consistently—pays off in the form of repeat transactions that require no additional marketing spend.

What happens next

The NAR study and the operational practices highlighted by Bramlett are likely to influence how brokerages train new agents and allocate resources in the coming months. Florida Realtors, the statewide trade association, continues to publish educational content and best practices for its members, and the referral-focused strategy fits within the organization's broader emphasis on professionalism and client service.

For individual agents, the takeaway is operational: the habits that generate repeat business and referrals—regular contact, personal availability, and in-person presence at key moments in the transaction—are practices that can be implemented immediately without significant capital investment. Agents who make those habits routine may find that their marketing costs decline over time as their referral base grows.

For consumers, the study is a reminder that the agent relationship does not end at closing. The agents who stay in touch, provide useful market updates, and remain available for questions are positioning themselves to earn future business—and the data suggests that most buyers and sellers prefer to work with someone they already know.

As Jacksonville and the broader First Coast continue to attract new residents and see robust transaction volumes in established neighborhoods and new master-planned communities alike, the real estate professionals who build referral-driven practices may be best positioned to sustain production through market cycles. The work may not be flashy, but as one Texas broker's numbers suggest, repeated consistently over time, it compounds into a durable competitive advantage.