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33 Journal CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCIES POST 27% INCREASE YOY According to early bankruptcy data from Epiq, total bankruptcy filings across the country increased 4% to 32,695 filings in October 2022 over the 31,493 from the same period last year. Epiq reported that all individual filing in- creased by 4% while the 1,886 commercial filings in October 2022 represented a 5% increase over last year. "With inflation increasing the costs of goods and services, and with interest rates rising, families and businesses have been presented with tough financial decisions," ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss said. "ough filing rates are still below their pre-pandemic totals, struggling households and businesses are still turning to bankruptcy for relief from mounting economic challenges." Across all filing chapters, each category reported a decrease compared to September's figures. October's bankruptcy filings represent a 2% decrease from September's filings; individual filings for the month were down a single percent from September's 13,814 reported filings. e commercial filing total represented a 7% decrease from the September commercial filing total of 2,015. Commercial chapter 11 filings decreased 32% from the 445 filings the previous month, while subchapter V elections within chapter 11 decreased 16% from the 156 filed in September. "While comparing month-over-month or year-over-year filings is one way to determine what's trending in the bankruptcy market, the delta between new filings and closed cases is another valuable capacity metric," said Gregg Morin, VP of Business Development and Reve- nue at Epiq Bankruptcy. According to Morin, not since 2010 have there been more new filings in a year than cases that were closed and it's trending that way again in 2022, as there have been 61,857 more cases closed than were opened through October 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. For the past four months, the difference has steadily decreased, from 7,627 in July, to 6,516 in August, 5,291 in September, and 3,252 in October. agents of all experience levels are converting leads to clients, poor lead quality, competition from other local agents, high costs per lead, getting a lead too late, low connection rates, and the time/effort in managing clients is too high. Beyond lead generation, new agents also struggle with non-serious buyers, whereas experienced agents struggle with large listing sites that com- pete with them as brokers. Knowledge Gaps at reaten Success Newer agents wish they had more knowl- edge of lead gen, transaction processes, and marketing, whereas experienced agents wish they knew more about social media marketing, online ad campaigns that convert, and search engine optimization. When it comes to why many agents likely don't succeed, new agents perceive their struggles are because of a lack of training and startup cash, while the most experienced agents responded it was likely because new agents underestimate the time commitment and the learning curve. Contributing Factors to a New Agent's Success With so many challenges facing new agents, finding success can seem daunting, but a portion of survey respondents found that it's still ab- solutely possible. When looking at the charac- teristics of successful new agents—those who average more than seven transactions a year—the majority, 9 in 10, work full-time. While most agents surveyed work full-time (83%), as new agents work to establish themselves, they are three times more likely to work part-time com- pared to their more experienced counterparts, 24% versus 8% for the most experienced agents. Nearly half (47%) spend more than $3,000 a year on marketing, and nearly 7 in 10 spend money on online leads every month. Two-thirds of successful new agents also had someone to mentor them and had backup funds when they first started out in real estate. How Much to Spend on Marketing e adage that "you've got to spend money to make money" rings true for agent success; 64% of experienced agents spent $3,000 or more annually, whereas 70% of new agents spend less than $3,000 annually. Nearly 9 in 10 agents pay for marketing costs themselves. New agents are most likely to receive marketing support from their brokerage, 15% versus 9% for experienced agents. Only about one-third of new agents spend $50 or more a month on internet leads, whereas experienced agents are most likely to spend between $50-499 a month on internet leads. Top Channels to Find the Most Success With a greater network of past clients, more experienced agents find online marketing success by calling on past clients via email marketing. Newer agents tend to have more social media ex- perience, which is likely why 82% of new agents rely on social media and lean into creating their own content. Among the different social plat- forms, Facebook is the platform of choice among survey participants, with 63% of all agents using it to generate leads, and Instagram comes in at a distant second at 28%. Despite the popularity of social media, new agents struggle to convert it into leads, and social media ranked No. 5 for lead gen after network- ing/referrals, email marketing, digital advertising, and internet leads. Among all agents, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat ranked among the social media sites for the lowest lead gen (with less than 5% getting any leads from these sources). While 6 in 10 agents of all experience levels ranked the tried-and-true method of network- ing and word of mouth the highest for offline marketing channels, newer agents also ranked open houses (44%) as a top channel. For the most experienced agents, more than half (55%) call on past contacts/leads as a secondary offline marketing tactic, followed by direct mail and open houses. Despite the popularity of social media, new agents struggle to convert it into leads, and social media ranked No. 5 for lead gen after networking/ referrals, email marketing, digital advertising, and internet leads.