Okay, guys, do you ask the seller what they want to list the property for?

When you walk into that listing appointment, do you say, “Hey, do you have a price in mind?”

If those words are coming out of your mouth, it’s a mistake, and I’m going to tell you why.

Because when the seller voices that number, I believe they start to solidify around it. They begin to take a position. And if they feel like they’re being backed off of it, they may feel like they’re losing face. So they start defending it even more—especially in front of a significant other, a spouse, husband, wife, whoever.

They feel the need to defend that number.

So what’s the alternative?

Don’t encourage them to state a price.

Sometimes they'll volunteer it anyway, but don’t prompt them.

Instead, try saying this:

“Hey guys, I brought in a lot of data for you. I’m a data person, and I believe that to make a really good decision, you just need really good data. So I bring in all kinds of information that helps with pri...

Here’s a key question when it comes to pricing: Who’s influencing who in a listing meeting?

When you walk into a house, remember you’re the expert. As a real estate professional, you're looking at homes every single day. You’re showing properties, scanning the MLS, reviewing the hot sheet, and touring listings. That’s why clients hire us and pay tens of thousands of dollars. Because we know the market.

Most of us walk into a home with a gut number. You know what I mean. You look around and think, This house will sell for $454K or $625K. And you’re usually pretty close.

But here's what happens: You walk in with that gut number... and then the seller starts talking.

They show you every improvement, tell you why they love the house, and explain why they think it’s worth more. Before you know it, you're moving your number toward their number.

But it should be the other way around:

You should be influencing them. You are the expert. And if you want to price a home where it will actual...

Question: how fast do you pivot on price when you list a property?

Sometimes we get it right, and sometimes even the best of us get it wrong. When we get it wrong and don’t pivot quickly, we risk missing the opportunity to sell the property for top dollar.

So, how fast do you pivot? Do you wait two weeks, three weeks, a month, two months? Are you setting that expectation upfront with the seller?

Here’s a study from ShowingTime. They’re integrated with many MLSs across the country and help schedule showings. Because of that, they have their finger on the pulse of showing activity.

Their study, based on tens of thousands of showings, shows that after the first five days, showings plummet on most listings.

Why? Because when a listing hits the market, all eyes are on it. Most buyers—probably 95% to 99%—are set up on portals like Realtor.com, Zillow, or your website. When that listing hits the MLS, the entire backlog of active buyers sees it almost immediately.

Hundreds of buyers look...

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, have you ever heard the phrase “a high tide floats all boats?” You probably have.

This concept applies to pricing. In a strong market—like we saw during the COVID years—if you priced a home slightly wrong, it didn’t really matter. The market was so hot that it would cover your mistakes. Even if you were off by 4% or 5%, prices were rising 10%, 15%, even 20% annually.

But that’s not the case today.

Today, we’re in a completely different market. There’s an imbalance: about 500,000 more home sellers than buyers. Prices are flat or even declining in many areas. Zillow and Redfin are both predicting price drops this year—the first in several years.

What’s driving this shift? Interest rates. Once rates come back down and buyers re-enter the market, things will likely shift again. But for now, we're stagnant—or even declining—on price.

So, when you're sitting down with sellers, the pricing conversation becomes crucial. We're no longer in a "high tide" market. In fact, the tide ...

When we're talking to our sellers and giving them feedback each week about what's happening in the market, it's really important that we educate them on a few things that often get missed.

One of those is the power of virtual showings.

So what’s a virtual showing? A virtual showing is when someone visits your listing online. They may or may not come see it in person, but that initial view online is still a strong signal. It means your marketing is working—it's attracting people to look at the listing on Zillow, Realtor.com, your own website, or the MLS.

From there, the buyer decides: Is the listing priced right? Does it look like it’s in great condition? Is it staged properly? A number of other factors come into play once they arrive at the listing page—but your job is to get them there.

And when you’re talking to our sellers every week—and this is how you earn price adjustments, by the way—you need to bring up virtual showings.

Right now, price adjustments are on the rise. About ...

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...

Hey, guys. When you're sitting with a seller and you've taken the listing, it's important to have what I call the "red flag conversation."

Here's how it goes: I say, "Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Seller, now that we've listed your home, I want to explain the next steps. We're going to get your property into the MLS, turn on my marketing engine—yes, I call it a marketing engine—and your home will be exposed to every buyer in the market. In the first couple of weeks, all those buyers will take a look, and one of three things will happen."

Scenario A: We get a ton of showings, which is great. That means buyers in large numbers accept the price and want to see the home.

Scenario B: The buyers look, but there are very few showings—a small trickle. That's a red flag, signaling that buyers don't think we got the price right. If that happens, I'll reach out to you in the first five days because I'll be monitoring the showing reports in real time. If I don't see significant activity, we'll discuss this...

Okay, guys, here’s some great language to use with buyers who are on the fence. When you’re following up—because we should all be following up—you can say something like this:

“Hey, I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know I’ve been thinking about you. Now that we’re in a new year, I wanted to talk to you about all the new listings starting to hit the market. February, March, April, and May are when we see the most listings, which means the most opportunities. In fact, we have 10% more inventory on the market this year compared to last year. So, I wanted to reconnect and see if we could start looking at some properties together.

“Now, I know you might have some concerns about pricing and finding the right value. Here’s the key message: When you work with me, we’re not buying the market—we’re buying a specific home. My job is to ensure you get the absolute best pricing and value on the home that fits your needs.”

You can also add a personal story to connect with them, li...

Are you doing live buyer farming right now?

If not, you're missing a huge lead generation opportunity.

So, what is live buyer farming? It’s simple. When you go out to show a home, use the 5-5-10 method: reach out to five homes on either side and 10 homes across the street. Send them a quick text or call saying something like:

"Hey, my name's Jim. I just showed your neighbor's property across the street. They love the neighborhood, but the home didn’t quite check all the boxes. Quick question—would you consider selling for the right price if you didn’t have to list your house and had plenty of time to find your dream home? If you’d consider it, give me a call, email, or text. I’d love to have that conversation."

What's the response rate on this? On average, one out of every 20 people you contact will be open to having that conversation.

This is a winning strategy for lead generation. You’ll start so many conversations that can lead to future opportunities. Even if they say no, here...