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...

Hey guys, we know the number of listings getting stale on the market is rising, right?

70% of listings have been on the market for over 30 days, and nearly 50% for over 60 days. What does this mean?

It means more expired listings are going to start showing up in your MLS soon.

Going after expireds is a huge opportunity, something we haven't seen much of in recent years because the market has been so short on listings. But today, we have 34% more listings than a year ago, and many are going stale, which means a lot of them will be coming off the market.

Let me give you one quick, out-of-the-box approach for going after expired listings that’s definitely effective.

The conversation will go like this: I'm going to call that expired listing as early as possible and say, "Hey, my name’s Jim Emily with ABC Real Estate, and I noticed your listing got delisted from the MLS this morning." (The keyword here is delisted).

Then I’ll say, "I’m sure you're getting a lot of calls from REALTORS,...

Have you ever had a seller who wants to overprice their property? Almost all sellers, right? It's pretty much universal. So, what's a conversation we can have with sellers to help them price their home correctly?

One approach I like is called the "One Bite at the Apple" conversation.

Here's how it goes:

"Hey Mr./Mrs. Seller, I totally understand that you want to get top dollar for your home. But the market has shifted a bit, especially when it comes to marketing homes. Over the past five to ten years, mobile and internet searches have become the dominant way buyers find homes. Most buyers—99%—are signed up on a portal to receive new listing updates.

So, here's what that means: when we list your home, within 24 hours, essentially every buyer in the market is going to see it. They'll all get the listing in their inbox around the same time and make a snap decision: is it priced right or overpriced? Do I want to go see it?

This is why most homes that sell do so within the first five t...

Hey guys, here’s something really important:

70% of all the listings in America right now have been on the market for over 30 days, and about 50% have been on for over 60 days.

That should sound some alarm bells if your listings are in that category. One challenge you might be facing is the seller's perception of the market versus the reality.

For the last 10 years, sellers have gotten used to hearing stories of listings getting tons of showings, multiple offers, and selling at or above asking price. But the market is changing. If we look closely at different price categories in the U.S., we’ll find that many price bands have shifted into a buyer's market.

A buyer's market means there’s more than six months of inventory, giving buyers more control and power. Sellers still have leverage in the lower price tiers, but in the upper markets, buyers are gaining more power.

So, what do we do? How do we educate our sellers? The key is understanding the difference between comparable pricin...

So, how are you going to communicate your buyer agent commissions now that the MLS policies have changed?

We can’t list them in the MLS anymore, and agents and offices are coming up with different approaches. I want to share one of my favorite ideas that I’ve seen a few offices implement.

One office is using a Google Sheet—a live, online spreadsheet. The Google Sheet lists all their property addresses in one column and the corresponding buyer agent commissions (BACs) in another. It’s simple but effective. Since it’s a live document, you can update it in real time. The sheet generates a URL, so anyone with that link can access it and see the current BACs.

Now, here’s the cool part: With that URL, you can create a QR code using any free online generator. Attach the QR code to your marketing materials, and when someone scans it, they’ll be taken directly to your Google Sheet with all the BACs. As you add or remove listings, the document updates automatically. It’s a straightforward sol...

It's hard to believe, but sellers are greedy. We all are, right? When we sell our homes, we want the maximum amount we can get.

The problem is that many agents will "buy" a listing, especially in this desperate market. We're finding listings, but many agents are hanging on by their fingernails, willing to do anything to get a listing. That's not how we do business. We need a script that addresses the greedy seller.

Here's a script I'll call the "100% Script." If I'm sitting across the table, I can say…

“You know what? Many people don't realize this, but statistically, in our market, only about 60% of the time do listing agents sell the listing the first time. They list it, put it on the market, do the marketing, but then the home doesn't get an offer or the right offer, and you have to list it with another REALTOR. I don't want to do that with you. I don't want to waste your time or effort. I want to give you a different experience because my goal is to sell 100% of the listings I t...

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...

Okay, guys, here's an important question regarding this NAR settlement and everything around it:

We are going to have to start having buyer representation agreements. In that agreement, it's going to say how much you're going to get paid, right? You’ve established what you charge sellers a long time ago, but now you've got to do it with buyers.

What's going to be your minimum commission standard with a buyer?

First of all, accept the fact that you have value and that you are worth more than some other agents in your community. So, you're not going to base your number on what another real estate agent is doing. Maybe they're brand new or barely active.

Instead, you need to base your numbers on the services you provide and your experience.

But here's a bad tendency with a lot of agents: They're going to undershoot their value.

They may say, "I don't want to be greedy, so I'll come in lower."

But don't go too low. There's still going to be sellers offering buyer agent compensation....

Hey, team, got two game-changing ideas for your upcoming Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). As you gear up for the next week or two, consider adding these to your arsenal.

Number one: Identify the strongest competitor and share this insight with the seller. During the CMA, explain, "Mr. and Mrs. Seller, we're diving into a CMA, much like an appraisal. Analyzing three sold properties, three active ones, and three that didn't sell. My suggested price is based on this, but I want to highlight a key competitor. This is the one we need to go head-to-head with. Buyers are likely considering these two listings, so let's be super competitive."

Number two: Distinguish between an as-is price and an improved price, especially for properties needing a bit of work. Frame it this way, "Like an appraisal, we can provide an as-is or an improved price. If we list it as-is, aggressively priced to sell, we're looking at this range. However, if you invest in a few improvements, I've got great contractor...