Most buyers interview just one agent. Make sure it’s you.
Fewer buyers are out this fall, and the ones still looking aren’t shopping around for an agent. Most interview just one before they hire, so there’s rarely a second chance at a first call. That turns every new inquiry into a race to the callback. The agent who calls while the buyer is still looking at the listing gets the conversation, and every minute after that makes the buyer harder to reach. This week, make sure that agent is you.
THIS WEEK'S PRO TIP:
REPLY IN MINUTES, CALL WITHIN THE HOUR
Send a reply within minutes, then call within the hour. A 2007 study of more than 15,000 web leads across industries, by MIT and InsideSales.com, found the odds of qualifying a lead drop 21 times when the first call comes at 30 minutes instead of five. Few agents in the field can call every lead that fast, so split it in two: a quick text that confirms you got the inquiry and offers two call times, then the real conversation as soon as you’re between appointments. Save that text on your phone today so it takes ten seconds to send.
The hard part is keeping that hour open. You can’t pick up from inside a showing across town or halfway through a lockbox run. Look at this week’s calendar, find the errands that keep your phone in your pocket, and hand them off so you’re free to call back.
When you're busy: Every hour you spend driving to a lockbox is an hour a new buyer could be waiting on your callback. Post the showings, open houses, and lockbox runs you can’t fit on KeyPleaz® and keep your phone free for the calls that turn into clients.
When you're available: The agents working to stay by their phones this week still need someone in the field. Open KeyPleaz® and claim the showings, open houses, and lockbox runs they post. It’s paid work you can fit around your own calls and appointments.
MARKET NEWS PULSE
Builder confidence fell to 29 in October, its lowest reading since June 2012, per NAHB. Its gauge of prospective buyer traffic dropped five points to 18, the weakest since April 2012 outside the first month of the pandemic. Builders are working harder for the buyers who do show up, with 65% offering sales incentives, the 19th straight month at 60% or more. They’re also pulling back on what comes next: single-family permits fell 4.0% in September to an 845,000 annual pace, per the Census Bureau, and completions ran 14.0% below a year ago. That puts builders in direct competition for the same thin pool of buyers you’re working, which makes every inquiry you get worth answering fast.
QUICK STAT OF THE WEEK
55.5% of investor home purchases in the first half of 2026 were all cash, against 30.0% of purchases overall, per a Realtor.com report released this week. A cash buyer doesn’t wait on a lender, so they can go from showing to offer in a hurry. When an investor asks to see a property, get them in the same day.
Open the app and hand off the errands that keep you off the phone.
