Stuck Listing? How Smart Agents Turn a Stale Property into a Sold One

Why do some homes fly off the market while others sit in silence? It’s rarely bad luck, and "waiting for the market" is the fastest way to fail. In this episode of the Unstoppable Real Estate Agents Podcast, we break down the systematic "reset" strategy used by top-tier agents to manufacture momentum when a property goes cold.

Inside the Episode:

• The 3-Week Diagnostic: How to read online views, saves, and skips like a secret code.
• The Visibility Trap: Why a home can have high traffic but zero showings and, the one fix that changes everything.
• Repositioning vs. Reducing: The psychological shift that turns a price talk into a strategic win.
• The "New" Effect: How to refresh a listing’s story and visuals to make a stale property feel like a Grand Opening.
• The Feedback Goldmine: Identifying the one recurring comment that is secretly blocking your offers.

The Bottom Line

Stop guessing and start decoding. Learn how to turn data into a closing and transform stressed sellers into strategic partners.

Resources & Links:
Real Estate Business Audit: https://www.kimhughes.com/business-audit/

Read the Blog: https://www.kimhughes.com/stuck-listing-how-smart-agents-turn-a-stale-property-into-a-sold-one/

Watch the Video: https://youtu.be/y9KLTJPMXlQ

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Additional Resources:

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi everybody, it's Kim Hughes, and today we are going to discuss how to turn a stale property into one that's sold. Welcome to the Unstoppable Real Estate Agents Podcast. I'm your host and real estate productivity expert, Kim Hughes. Join me as we focus on real strategies and implement real solutions designed for you to achieve major success in your business and life while getting you organized. You know, when a home sits on the market for a period of time, it's not just a dead end. It's it's a signal that there is something wrong with the way that that property has been marketed. Um, you know, the markets may not be moving very fast. You know, there could be a hundred reasons why that property is not selling. So here's the strategy we share with our agents who used to reset the momentum to get a home sold. For many agents, the first instinct when a listing slows down is to wait a little bit longer and hope that the market will catch up with it. Well, that worked in a fast market, that works in a fast market, but in today's market, waiting is often the worst strategy. Um, your sellers are getting frustrated, you're frustrated, buyers don't want to look at it because it's been sitting there and they're like, why has it been sitting there for so long? So when this happens as an agent, you want to move quickly and systematically. You want to treat a stale listing like a diagnostic exercise rather than a failure. So the first place to start is with the data. You know, always look at your data. Every listing produces signals in the first two or three weeks, the number of online views, how many people saved it, how many showings were requested, how many showings actually happened. So a showing request and an actual showing are two different things. So we want to make sure that we understand those two numbers, okay? Um, you want the feedback, you know, you want to analyze all that feedback from the buyers. Um, of course, that's coming from their agents. And then they want, you want to tell a clear story about how the market is responding. If a home is getting a strong, it's like getting strong online traffic, but a very few showings, the issue is often the presentation or the perceived value, right? So if there are plenty of showings but no offers, buyers are seeing something during the visit that is turning them off. So maybe you need to go walk through the house again. Maybe something's changed, you know, since the last time you were there. Um, you know, if there's kids in the home, you know, let's make sure that the sellers are keeping everything picked up and nice and orderly, making sure that, you know, everything is safe and secure. You know, um, I mean, there's a hundred things that you could do to go look at that property again, just to make sure that they're keeping it in showcase condition, right? Because that's gonna make a huge difference when somebody comes to look at it. Um, you know, when buyers are seeing something during that visit that's turning them off, then you know, the activity is going to be low all across the board. The market is quietly saying that the price is not aligned with the competition. So instead of guessing, successful agents review the indicators with their sellers early. So, kind of what you probably want to do here is, of course, as the listing agent, when you are sitting at the listing presentation, you want to make sure you have a clear understanding of your sellers' expectations. And then they need to understand what you're going to do to meet those expectations. So if they are really saying, you know what, my house is worth $500,000 and the market doesn't show that, um, let's say it shows at $475 and they are not going to budge and they understand that if they're overpriced, that they may not sell it as quickly as possible. Um, it may sit on the market and for longer. And when it sits on the market for longer, then people don't want to look at it. So when you sit down and have that conversation with the seller during the listing appointment, you know, what are their expectations? What you can tell them that they can expect. And then if there's still not an agreement on the price, and if they're like, nope, I'm gonna hold strong, I'm gonna stay put, I want $500, even though the market say $450, $475, then you need to make a decision when you leave that listing appointment if that is a good listing for you. Because that gonna, that right there is telling you that the seller could be a difficult person because they are dead set on one price and you know that they probably won't get it. Um, so is that going to make it harder on you, cost you more money? It's gonna cost you your reputation because when the sellers um don't sell their property, they're gonna blame it on you. And then they're gonna tell everybody it was your fault. Because the next agent that comes in and lists that property, a seller could fall in their lap, you know, the next day. So we don't know, you know, when that house is gonna sell or who to or anything like that. So you could have that listing for three months or six months and it not sell. And then the new agent comes in and relist it, and then he's got a buyer, boom, done. So you don't want that to look on look bad on you as the agent. So have those conversations at the beginning and make those business decisions whether this is a good listing for you or not. And if it's not a good listing for you, you can refer it to somebody else and get a referral fee. Okay, you can do that, you know. So you've got to learn how to say no to those listings that are going to be complicated and cost you more money and cost you time and effort. Okay, and then they don't appreciate it. Right there, I would, as an agent, they would have to pass a lot of tests for me to take that listing. I know that that probably sounds a little crazy, but I have seen so many of these things go upside down and agents get a bad reputation just because the seller got mad at them, you know. So we don't want that. But now let's move forward. So say you're on the market for three weeks, you've had those conversations, now it's time to have that con that real conversation. So when you sit down with them, you want to make sure that you're prepared. You want to show them what the comps are right now, what the market stats are saying, what the um how many have sold since you have listed this property, and all the little details. You want to show them all the statistics, the analytics from, you know, putting it in the MLS and um how many views on Zillow, Realtor.com, homes.com, you know, social media, how many people liked it, had a conversation, comment, how many people shared it. You know, these are analytics that you can just pull together very quickly, put them in a nice folder, and then when you sit down, you know, uh, well, I'm gonna take a step back because what I would do is I would take all those analytics and create a graft, and you can do this with AI. This is great for AI. So you could take all of your analytics, all the three or four comps that you come up with, and put together screenshots, pictures, you know, even if it's a piece of paper that you've scribbled on, take a picture of it for that listing, and then upload it to ChatGPT or whatever AI you're using and say to the AI what you want it to do. I want you to read these analytics. I'm meeting with my seller this afternoon. I need them to lower the price from this to this. I need these analytics to be explained so it explained so the seller understands what we're doing and why we're doing it so that they feel confident in making that final decision to lower the price or to do whatever you need them to do. AI will tell you everything you need to do. And if it doesn't, then you need to go back into AI and tell it some more information. It's not going to read your mind. So then once you kind of start talking to it, then you might say, What information do you need from me to make this more accurate? And then when you get all the analytics and all the numbers and everything put in, then have it create a graph for you and say, create me a graph based on these analytics. So then you have a graph that you can take with you and show them, you know, what's going on because that's a visual, and most people are visuals and they love looking at that stuff. So kind of look at it that way. So just know that a listing does not exist in isolation. The buyers are gonna compare everything. They're gonna compare everything to every home that they look at. They're going to look at everything online, they're gonna do, um, they're gonna go into AI and they're gonna talk to their AI about buying a home and look at this property and look at that property and tell me, you know, they're doing the work, so you need to do the work as well. And AI can be your best friend with this. So I want you to understand that you regularly need to pull the newest listings, the price reductions, and the recently sold, okay, so that you can compare all of that. And that's what you're feeding to AI. What often becomes obvious is that the competition has shifted. And since the home first went on the market, a new listing with stronger upgrades or a better look, or maybe it's a newer property or whatever, can be a competition. So you want to be aggressive with your pricing, and your sellers need to understand that. So you need to make sure that they understand that today I'm gonna list your property at this price, and then if it doesn't sell within three weeks, you know, we need to look at what other listings have come on the market. So here's a here's an example. I have a client that lives in Arizona, and they were wanting to sell their property. They listed it with a friend, not a problem, but this friend was just not engaged in everything. They were not the serious, you know, agent. They did it more as a hobby, but the seller didn't realize that. And the agent was holding open houses and not getting information from the people walking through. So she could not follow up. Um there were, she was not overseeing the upgrades when they were, you know, uh, not upgrades, but updating the property. And, you know, all she kept saying is drop the price, drop the price. But she had nothing to back her up. Well, the friend got disappointed and just said, Look, I just don't think you're giving me what I need. I'm gonna let you, I'm gonna terminate my agreement, I'm gonna hire somebody else. And they had an out, you know, and so unfortunately, they don't still now they don't speak. But what happened was the new agent walked in and gave them everything that they asked for without asking. So that is the difference. Don't just assume that you can walk into a listing appointment and throw some content to them and then they list with you, or that you need them to adjust the price or do something to get this listing to move. You need to be backed up by uh, you know, data basically, and pure data. And new listings are the ones that are gonna hurt you the most. Once you list that property, any new listing that comes up after that, you need to be watching it. So you need to go into your own MLS and set yourself up to receive new listings around that name around that home that you just listed. Okay. Every agent should do that. That way you know what's going on. Um so the one thing that I think can help that you can help the seller think strategically rather than emotionally, because you know they're all emotional about their home. I'm emotional about my home. So I want you to remember that you have to understand that they are emotionally involved, but we want them to think strategically. Okay. So you could say something like, do you do I mean you don't want to say something like, do you want to reduce the price? The better question is, how do we make this home the most compelling option for buyers this week? That's what you need to ask. And sometimes the answer could be the price. It could be in the presentation. The yard may need to be mowed, the pool may need to be cleaned out, the kitchen might need to be cleaned, the dishwasher might need to be unloaded. You know, the the seller has to engage as well. So they have to keep that home in showcase condition. You know, buyers are looking. They're opening cabinets. If they're not organized, you know, that's a put off. If the closets are cluttered, it's a put off, you know. So kind of go through that house every so often and see what you can do to tweak it to make it look really good. Because when a listing stalls, experienced agents often refresh the presentation only. And, you know, they just kind of like, well, let's just do some new pictures, let's upgrade the staging, let's do this and let's do that. And that's really not what it's coming down to. So what I want y'all to do is when you go on a listing appointment, I want you to have a strategy to where you're sitting down and you're going through all of your information at the listing appointment. And then I want you to talk to them about their property. You need to be brutally honest with them, okay? If that carpet is old and dirty, you need to tell them the carpet is old and dirty. We need to put down wood floors, we need to have the carpet cleaned. You have to tell these sellers because what you see, they don't see, okay? Because they live there. They like what they have. So they don't understand why you nobody's buying their home with that shag green carpet that's probably been there since 1960. So you see what I'm saying? I mean, that's a little extreme, but you get what I'm saying. So I want you to really, when you sit down with the seller, be brutally honest and just tell them say, you know, I want to make sure that you understand where we are in today's market so that there is no nothing unturned that you don't know about. And then you lay out all of your information, all of your data and everything that goes with that property. And then you'll talk about what needs to be done in the home and why it needs to be done and how it will help sell the home. It could improve the pricing, you know. So make sure you do that. And then just say if the home doesn't sell, you know, if we don't have a contract in 30 days, we're gonna have a hard conversation about reducing the price. Are you okay with that? Are you open to that? And then that way they know that that is a possibility. So you're not coming at them from left field and taking them off guard. They're prepared for that. So, you know, just keep that in mind. But then also, if there have been showings and things like that, gather that information. If you have to go knock on that agent's door to get feedback, you go do that because you need to understand where the buyers are thinking and your seller is gonna want that information as well. Okay. So make sure you do your due diligence. If you hold an open house, you get a name and an email and a phone number from everybody that walks through that home. You should have a questionnaire for them to fill out and hand to you. Okay. You could even do a little questionnaire that takes them through the home and just says, you know, we'd love your feedback on, you know, as you view this home, we would love to see your feedback and have a list. What did you think of the living room? What did you think of the bathroom, the master bathroom or the primary bathroom, the kitchen, the backyard? Get them to talk to you. You know, don't just say, Hi, welcome, enjoy, let me know if you have any questions. No, it should be when they walk in, you introduce yourself, you shake their hand, you give them this little um strategy form for them to use to critique the home. You should have your iPad where they sign in and do all of that. And then at the end, when they're walking out, you should be gathering up that piece of paper and asking them, would you like for me to um, you know, I don't know that that you would ask them if you wanted to call. But what I would say is I appreciate you coming. I know the sellers will appreciate any feedback you can give me on this home. And if you're interested, then we would love to have an opportunity to sit down and talk to you about making this home yours, you know, something like that. But everybody should be greeted when they come in and greet and and walked out and taken that questionnaire and ask them for their verbal feedback as well. What did you think? What are your first impressions of this home now that you've gone through it? What did you think of the price? What do you think of the neighborhood? You know, what'd you think of that backyard? What'd you think of that great kitchen in there? I mean, a chef's kitchen. So these are the little things that you can say to get a conversation started. Because there's nothing more frustrating than having 10 people come through an open house and you don't have any information or any idea what they're looking for. And if you are that agent that says, How can I greet and talk to them when they leave, then have somebody help you. Have have your spouse there to help, have your assistant, have another agent, have, you know, your your best friend over there. You know, I mean, it's not hard to hand a piece of paper to somebody and and welcome them. Or I wouldn't walk, I wouldn't have them walk her out. I would, as the agent, want to walk them out, but have them come in, you greet them, and then turn them over to that person to take care of them. Okay. So that's how I would recommend that you would keep that listing fresh. Just because you're holding open houses every weekend, it's not going to get that house sold like you think. So, you know, these are the things that I look at when a stale listing. And then, you know, what kind of marketing are you doing? Do we need to refresh that marketing? Because one other tip is you can go in and take that property uh description, run it through Chat GPT, and have it rewrite it in a in a different way to give it, you know, some little tweaking just to make it fresh, and then redo your social media strategy on it. One thing that I tell agents is that when you list a property, most likely you're using the front of the home. I mean, you're using multiple photos, but the primary photo is the front of the home, right? So then let's say next week you want to promote the property, and you need to go through all your images or photos and pick one. Like you have this great kitchen. Then you put the kitchen on there on social media and you talk about the kitchen. And then the next few days later, or maybe the next week, you put a pick picture of the backyard, which has, you know, an outdoor kitchen and a pool, entertainment and all of that, and you talk about that. So when you're rotating the photos each week and you're adding new content, you're gravitating to people that love to cook, love to spend time in the backyard, entertaining. Um, you know, just pick different things about that home that you think that would stand out, you know, to a buyer. And then it looks like a new listing every week because you're adding a different photo, right? So try that. So AI and then your marketing are going to have a huge play into getting this listing sold. And you've got to you've got to give the details of the neighborhood, you've got to um promote that, promote the advantages that everything in the area provides that homeowner. Um, you know, there's a lifestyle with every every community. So tap into that lifestyle so that you can reshape how the property is perceived. And like I've said, you've got to track your feedback very carefully and um make sure that you get it and you send it to your clients so that they can see it. Because you don't want to be the bad guy. If I if I'm listed a property and I've told the seller, your cow smells like cat, you've got to do something about this, or this house will not sell. And then somebody comes through the house and the feedback is, well, it smelt like a cat. It was a put-off, then you can share that feedback with the seller and say, you know, I I don't want to bring you bad news, but let me share with you what people are talking about. This is the feedback. So what can we do to get that smell out of this house? Let's get rid of the carpet. Move the litter box, you know, whatever you have to do, wipe down the walls, go around and clean the walls, clean the furniture, clean every nuke and cranny because you know where that cat has been. So do all of that, and then you've got to lean into that feedback because that's going to help a lot. And another thing that you should do is when you get negative feedback and you've addressed the problem in the home, if it's something that you can do, then you need to reach back out to that agent and say, Hey, your buyer gave us some feedback. This is what they gave us. I wanted you to know that we addressed that. We really Appreciate it. Would your buyer be interested in seeing the property now that we have taken care of that situation? That is a really good way to get a buyer to come back because that could have been the only thing. They could have loved the home, loved everything, everything, check the boxes and all of that. But if that house had an odor, they're not going to buy it. So fix it, you know. And if you smell it, tell your seller before the buyer tells them, you know. So, okay, so we're gonna wrap this up. But those are just a few things that I think would help with a stalled listing. So if you have any ideas or any feedback or anything you would like to share, we'd love to hear from you. And, you know, we do have um a new program that is available to all of our agents, and that is a business audit. So, how would you like it if I came, I just took a little step into your business and looked at your back office and just picked one area. You get to pick one area of your business, and I will go through it and give you an audit of what's going on and how to fix it, and then how to implement it. So it's not just me looking at it going, yep, you have a problem. Have a great day. See you later. It's oh yeah, you definitely have a problem. Here's where you have the holes into this, and here's how we're gonna fix that. And then this is what I recommend that you do. And then when you get that audit and you've done everything, then you can send it back to me and I will review it and tell you, yeah, that's great. Or maybe you do this or do that. But you can do a business audit, get your business in order, help let me help you with those workflows. Um, you may not want to hire me to do it for you, but at least I can look at it and give you an honest opinion of what you've got going on in your business and how to fix it. So if that is something you're interested in, click on the link below and we'll have a good conversation and we'll go from there. But I hope that you will look at all of your listings right now and see which ones are kind of stale and how can my AI help me with this? How can my feedback help? How can I, you know, put together a strategy of when a home sits on a market for a couple of weeks, what's my next step? What's that system gonna look like? Workflows, action plan, whatever you want to call it. Okay? So I hope you got something out of this today, and I will see you next time. Bye. Thank you so much for tuning in. And if you know someone, and I bet you do, who would appreciate this podcast, please share it with them. As a reminder, this podcast can be delivered directly to your favorite device by using the subscribe links you can find in the show notes below or over at unstoppable realestateagents.com. Remember, it takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan. Have a great day.