Amy McCann

By: Amy McCann

If you earned your real estate license after 2020, your foundation was built in a fast, frenzied market — multiple offers, waived contingencies and homes selling before sign riders went up. But for a while now, the market has been telling a different story. Inventory has grown, buyer behavior has shifted and pricing power is no longer a given. This is the environment many newer agents are navigating for the first real stretch of their careers.

Success in this market requires a recalibration. While the skills developed in the ultra-competitive market still matter, today’s conditions demand something different: intentional listing management, stronger communication and a more hands-on advisory role. Homes are taking longer to sell, and buyers have options. Sellers need guidance rooted in reality, not recent memory.

This market presents both a challenge and an opportunity. It takes time for consumer expectations to catch up with market conditions, and your role is to bridge that gap. Clear communication, thoughtful marketing and consistent strategy updates can help sellers stay confident and engaged throughout the process. When done well, these practices don’t just help listings perform better. They help establish trust and credibility that will carry your business forward.

Best Practice#1: Professional Photography

Make sure the best parts of your seller’s property shine through with professional photography. Doing so will set the property apart on the MLS and on all the consumer facing syndicates. Depending on your budget and business model, you can offer virtual staging to step up the property’s presence. Many buyers have a difficult time furnishing a room in their mind. Remove the guesswork for them so they can visualize themselves in the space

Best Practice #2: Aggressive Marketing

Reach out directly to any agent who has sold a similar property within a mile of your new listing. Contact neighbors personally and invite them to bring friends and family to your open house. Send ‘just listed’ cards to the neighbors. Use social media marketing, video and online marketing to help maximize the property’s online presence. Look for additional ways to introduce the property to as many potential buyers as possible. Research the tools available to you and leverage them to help sell the property.

Best Practice #3: Detailed Updates

Send detailed updates on all your marketing activity to your customer weekly. You will want to use real metrics as well as anecdotal evidence. Sellers do not always understand the work that goes on behind the scenes. It’s up to you to explain it to them. You want to prevent your seller from worrying, and this can be achieved by establishing a regular check-in so you can explain everything you’re doing to help them sell their property. If you are not consistently reaching out, the easiest assumption is that you are not working diligently. If you leave room here for miscommunication or guesswork on the customer’s end, the relationship could sour quickly, especially once the property is on the market for longer than expected.

Best Practice #4: Pricing Transparency

In this changing market it is always important to remember that our responsibility is to arm our sellers with the very best information available and to always let them make decisions for themselves. Consistently providing information on comparable listings, pending sales and recently sold properties to your seller allows for open conversations about pricing decisions. This honest dialogue can help them be realisitic about offers by letting the market speak for itself. Using market information helps establish objectivity that allows a seller to make better decisions around pricing and various points of contract negotiations

Best Practice #5: Re-evaluate Your Marketing Plan

Every 30 days update your seller on all metrics regarding their property. You should be doing this weekly, but once a month you will want to take it a step further. Use the metrics you have gathered over the last 30 days to revamp your marketing plan. Create a comprehensive plan to overcome any challenges, negative feedback or other lackluster results. Discuss price reductions. Use the resources available to you from your brokerage or local real estate boards to enhance your listing; we all have access to an array of marketing tools. This plan can be as simple as decluttering the property or something a little more complex, like hosting a series of open houses.

Listing management is an integral skill to operating a successful real estate business as the market adjusts. If you implement these best practices today, you will be prepared for anything. On the surface, these are all very easy adjustments to make, but it will certainly set you apart. Anticipating what your customers need from you without them having to ask is the key to future referral business and customer satisfaction.

A licensed real estate professional and REALTOR® for almost a decade, Amy McCann has helped lead The Keyes Company’s Fort Lauderdale office as an assistant sales manager, established The McCann Team, and is the founder/manages the Keyes M.B.A. corporate training program. Currently, she is the District Sales Manager for The Keyes Company’s Plantation, FL office and serves on the Miami Realtor Association’s 2024 YPN Board of Governors.