Here’s an amazing stat that Redfin just put out, and that is that 39% of listings coming on the market are selling — going pending — in the first two weeks. Isn’t that amazing?

But there’s always a tale of two markets out there.

So you’ve got 39% that are going pending, but what about everybody else? The other 60% of listings are not.

And those are starting to linger on the market — a lot of listings on the market over 30 days and 60 days.

So when we have these listings that linger, what do we do?

Well, when we’re having conversations with our sellers, of course the first step is we’ve got to get them realistic on price. But there’s another side of that conversation as well.

So we talk about price. We talk about incentives. Definitely we want to have those conversations.
40% of the market right now — people on the market — have included some price reduction or incentive already.

But we also need to do one other thing that a lot of agents miss, and that is when we’re doing our wee...

Brokers, owners, team leaders, office leaders, I’m going to give you a little tip for your next office meeting.

So sometimes we start office meetings… I’m going to give you one really good way to make these meetings come alive, and I’m going to give you a second good way to really make them come alive.

One is to have the “Genesis Conversation.” What is that?

Well, when you’re doing your “haves and wants,” people are talking about new listings, sales, closings, and so forth. I want you to follow that up and say, “Hey, tell me, where did that listing come from? What was the genesis point where the lead came from, in other words?”

And people say, “Well, it came from my sphere of influence,” or “It was an open house,” or “It was a sign call,” or “It was an internet lead.”

Great. And then you move on to the next person: where was the genesis point for you?

And everybody in the office is going to now really get tuned into where all the leads are flowing from.

80% of the time it’s gene...

Hey guys, here’s a great message to put out to your SOI, and specifically to buyers who may be on the fence about entering the market.

A new study just came out from HousingWire showing that 40% of listings on the market today have had a price reduction of some kind. That’s higher than the last two years—higher than ’23 and higher than ’24.

That makes this a great time to be a buyer, especially if you’re a bargain shopper.

So what’s the text? You could simply say:

“Hey guys, if you’re out there wanting to find a bargain in today’s market, the time is right. Forty percent of listings on the market today have had a price reduction of some kind. Some sellers are more motivated than others. If you’re ready to start shopping, this may be the best time to shop for your next home.”

And that’s true.

Now is a great time to be a bargain hunter. Put that message out. Shake up some interest. Get people looking at homes.

It’s a great time to be a buyer.

Hope this helps. If you want more ide...

Hey guys, we're coming up on the end of summer. That means it’s time to have a specific conversation with one key group of clients: sellers.

If their home hasn’t sold yet, it may be time to reprice—because fewer and fewer buyers are entering the market. Many buyers want to be settled before the school year starts. Not all, but a large percentage.

We know the bulk of real estate activity happens in spring and summer. But once we hit late summer—August and September—the market begins to slow down dramatically.

So, what do we say to our sellers?

Here’s how I’d frame it:

====

"Mr. and Mrs. Seller, we’re entering September, which means we’re approaching the end of summer. Buyer activity is beginning to taper off, and there’s a lot of competition right now. Many other sellers like you are working to attract a smaller pool of remaining buyers.

"What we typically see this time of year is a wave of repositioning. Sellers begin to get more competitive—especially with price and buyer incen...

Hey guys, lots of news around home prices happening right now. New reports are showing a massive imbalance between home buyers and home sellers:

There are roughly 500,000 more home sellers than buyers in the marketplace today.

What that means is there's a lot of pressure for sellers to get their prices right, attract buyers, and offer incentives.

Zillow is predicting prices will decline this year by 1.9%. Redfin is also forecasting a 1% decline. So, we’re starting to see price adjustments already—especially in the major metro markets. 11 of the 50 metros across the country are already seeing price declines.

This is not going to be an easy year for sellers, but you can still sell your home—as long as you're doing the right things and guiding your clients properly.

One thing I like to discuss with my sellers is “search engine pricing.”

What is search engine pricing? It means understanding how buyers search for homes online.

Here's what they don’t do: They don’t sit down and say, “...

Hey guys, did you know that there are 32% more listings on the market today than there were a year ago at this same time?

We're still a bit below pre-pandemic levels, but we’ve climbed past 2023 and 2024 numbers. Sellers are coming back to the market.

But here’s the thing—we’ve got a lot more competition, and while pending sales are higher than last year, they’re not absorbing inventory as quickly as they used to. That means market times are going up.

When we're talking to sellers, it's really important to help them understand what’s happening in real time.

One strategy for doing that is called the Buyer Eye Strategy.

What is the Buyer Eye Strategy?

It means when you're sitting with a seller, you say:

“Hey Mr. and Mrs. Seller, I'm going to set you up just like you're a buyer in this market—someone looking for a home just like yours in the same price range. That way, you’ll be able to see when new listings hit the market, when there are price reductions, when homes go pending, an...

Is it a buyer's market or a seller's market in real estate today?

If we look at the nation as a whole, we have about four and a half months of inventory. What does that mean? It means if every REALTOR stopped taking listings tomorrow, it would take about four and a half months to sell off the current inventory at the current sales pace.

Is that healthy? Is that where we want to be? Generally, a balanced market has about six months of inventory. So being slightly under that means sellers still have a bit more power overall. When a seller prices their home correctly and it's in good condition, they can still get plenty of showings and, in some cases, multiple offers — even in today's market.

This is also why home prices continue to rise, despite higher-than-normal interest rates and an economy that appears to be nearing a recession.

The limited supply keeps pushing prices up.

However, it's crucial to understand that real estate isn't just one giant national market. Real estate, like...

In my second year as a real estate agent, I took 150 listings. Managing that as a young 20-year-old was a lot, but I knew early on that I needed to systemize my business. That's when I implemented something I called the "auto price reduction."

When I met with a seller, I'd say something like:

====

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Seller, as part of my communication strategy, I like to do something a bit outside the box. Every two weeks, you'll receive a message from my team—back then it was a letter, but today it would be an email—asking if you want to consider adjusting your home's price if it hasn't sold yet.

I don't want you to be offended by it. If you're not interested in a price reduction, just disregard it. If you want to think about it, set it aside. But if you're open to having a deeper conversation about possibly adjusting the price, we can discuss it. It's simply a prompt to keep the conversation going every two weeks.

The reality is, the longer a home sits on the market, the harder ...

Hey guys, price drops have hit an 18-month high. Here are three stats you need to know:

1. In May, 6.4% of home sellers dropped their home prices. In the last week of May, home prices actually came down by $3,000.
2. This is the first time home prices have declined in the last six months.
3. Homes are also staying on the market longer, now averaging 46 days. We are seeing more stagnation with listings.

When analyzing the market, we consider supply versus demand. We still have very low supply, but demand is decreasing due to high interest rates and record-high home prices. This combination makes affordability tough for many home buyers.

When discussing this with sellers, it's important to explain that a market can have pricing power or pricing pressure. For years, sellers had pricing power due to low supply and high demand. Now, with demand dropping, pricing pressure is entering the market.

The best time for a price adjustment might be surprising—it's at the listing appointment. At the...

Last month, 32% of all transactions closed involved a cash buyer. If you stack up a cash buyer against a finance buyer, as a seller, which one would you prefer? Probably a cash buyer.

Financing has hurdles: the buyer has to qualify, the home has to qualify, there's appraisal and underwriting approval. So, if I had the choice, I would probably want to take a cash buyer.

But how do we incentivize this?

Most agents aren't having this conversation with sellers. Would you like to incentivize cash buyers to make offers on your house? Why? Because with a cash buyer, you're not dealing with qualification issues, low appraisals, or underwriting roadblocks. We can remove contingencies faster with a cash offer, which means we can speed up closing generally faster than with a finance buyer.

To incentivize those offers, you might consider giving a cash discount. What would you give? Maybe a 1% or 2% discount off the price. Let's be honest, with a financed offer, the buyer often asks for closing...