Evolving Real Estate Listing Strategies

Strategies for listing appointments have evolved over the past few years

By Caroline Heller

The real estate market has thrown several curveballs the past few years. From a complete seller’s market in 2020 to a more neutral one in 2023, REALTORS^® must adjust their pitch accordingly, including how they prepare for listing appointments.

Prepare and let sellers lead

One thing that doesn’t change is going to a listing appointment well prepared. Linda Hoverman O’Neal, CRS, broker at RE/MAX in Fort Mill, South Carolina, has been in the business for almost 40 years and advises agents to make sure they have promotional materials and make the appointment mainly about the sellers and their home. “Leave potential sellers with something in their hands to review,” says Hoverman O’Neal. “Make sure your appointment is primarily about the property, but also include information about you, what you’ve done and materials that show how you can describe and promote their home.”

It’s a subtle balance that must be struck. REALTORS^® should demonstrate what they are capable of while also making the appointment about the seller, their unique circumstance and their home. “The first thing I do when I walk in the potential client’s house is ask them to show me their home,” Hoverman O’Neal says. “I let them lead the tour and I take notes.” Taking a backseat during this initial encounter lets agents build rapport.

Be the full package

Agents need to start thinking about all they can offer sellers. “I find, especially in the upper end market, that people expect a very concierge experience,” says Jessica Olevsky, CRS, Broker Owner at JPAR Stellar Living, who serves the Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., communities. “It’s not about cost-cutting, but about upping your services. Anybody can figure out comps these days with internet tools on Zillow and such, so now it’s about providing everything else.”

Some services agents can consider offering are coordinating any home updates, like refreshes to kitchens or bathrooms, and overseeing any work that needs to be done to the house so they can take the stress off the sellers. “We work with a contract company that pretty much can subcontract out anything that needs to be done to help our clients get top dollar for their house,” Olevsky says. “We’ve had sellers want to double-check things with their will, taxes or estate planning, so we make sure to put them in touch with people who can help.”

REALTORS^® should be the project manager of the entire process for clients. “They expect great marketing, expect quality staging—this is industry standard,” Olevsky says. “Our job is to be the full package.”

What to avoid

Agents noted two potential pitfalls with listing appointments:

Overloading your seller with too much information during the appointment. “We do a prelisting package that goes to the homeowner in advance of our meeting with a sample of their contracts, what the listing agreement would look like, general timelines and general marketing ideas,” says Olevsky. “People don’t have time to fully absorb these materials in a one-hour meeting, so this way they can review it beforehand and instead use the appointment to ask questions and build a relationship with the agent.”

Mismatched personalities. “We’ve actually had a case where one agent got the listing and started to work with a seller, and their personalities just didn’t mesh,” Olevsky says. The agent was higher energy and both parties were frustrated, so Olevsky’s office ended up swapping the agent with another one. “As a broker, it’s important to be aware of scenarios like this and make sure both your seller and agent have positive experiences,” Olevsky suggests.

Properly prepare for listing appointments with the eLearning course Listing Strategies: Pre-Listing Preparation at CRS.com/catalogsearch.

Photo: iStock.com/treety