SCALE WITH LIBERTAS & EXP REALTY
By Tim & Julie Harris · November 12, 2026
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Your past client leans over the fence and says, “Nobody’s buying right now, are they? I heard sales are way down.”
Here’s the truth: homes under contract were down 10.5% from a year ago in October, so almost 9 in 10 of last year’s deals are still happening. The typical buyer this year was 58. If you want another $50,000 before January, stop chasing everyone and find the people actually buying.
Rates fell a third straight week, and the payment hit a five-week low
Freddie Mac’s 30-year average dropped to 7.18% on November 5, from 7.24%. Redfin put the median monthly payment at $2,777, its lowest in five weeks, down from $2,811 in early October.
Buyers still shopping “are in a relatively strong position, facing less competition and more price cuts,” a Realtor.com economist said.
Your payment is lower than it was a month ago, and you have less competition. Want me to run the numbers on the two homes you liked?
A record 1 in 10 first-time buyers paid all cash
A record 10% of first-time buyers paid all cash, NAR’s 2026 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers found. Their median age was 54, and 28% used an inheritance. “Inheritances are really driving this,” said NAR’s Jessica Lautz.
Some of your fastest closings this year are 54-year-old first-time buyers with family money.
Is an inheritance or family money part of your plan? It changes how fast we can move.
Family now moves more buyers than jobs do
14% of buyers moved to be closer to family and friends, up from 6% in 2000, while job and life-event moves fell from 25% to 5%. A family move has a reason and a date, and it usually starts in your sphere.
Is anyone in your family talking about moving closer to the grandkids, or having a parent move in?
Rank the buyers who are still buying, then go get the top three
Ask two questions: who can go under contract in seven weeks, and who pays you twice?
Rank | Who | Speed | What they’re worth |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Equity-rich move-up buyers and downsizers | Fast once the order of the move is planned | A purchase and a listing |
2 | Family movers, including multigenerational | Fast: a real reason and a date | Specific homes, fewer tours |
3 | Heirs and wealth-transfer buyers | Cash can close in weeks | Often an inherited home to sell too |
4 | Financed first-time buyers and renters | Lender first | Your January pipeline |
Segment 1: equity-rich owners who buy and sell. Remember, most sellers are also buyers, especially in the middle and luxury markets. Every seller conversation is also a buyer conversation, and every move-up buyer is probably a listing. Ask both questions every time.
Repeat buyers are 78% of buyers, median age 62, and 30% paid all cash. To find them, add one question to every open house sign-in and buyer intake: “Do you own a home you’d need to sell first?” Every yes is a buyer and a listing.
Nobody wants to own two homes or move twice. Let’s put it on one page: what yours sells for, what you can buy and which happens first. Tuesday at 4 or Wednesday at 10?
Make it one appointment, two presentations: your listing presentation, the seller pre-qualification script and the Buyer Presentation from Premier Coaching, plus your lender.
Segment 2: family movers. 14% of buyers bought a multigenerational home, and caring for aging parents was the top reason, at 30%. Search your CRM notes for “mom,” “dad,” “grandkids,” “in-law” and “moving home,” then ask your top 50 past clients. Write their must-have list before the first tour, like a main-floor bedroom with a full bath. These buyers don’t browse.
Segment 3: heirs and wealth-transfer buyers. 21% of all-cash first-time buyers used proceeds from selling an inherited property. That’s a listing before it’s a purchase. Find them through estate attorneys, CPAs and financial planners you know.
When a client inherits a home or money, who helps them decide whether to keep it, sell it or buy with it? I’d like to be that call, and I’ll keep it simple for a family that’s grieving.
Then hold one family meeting, planner on the phone, with a written plan for the inherited home and the next purchase.
Segment 4: financed first-time buyers, your January pipeline. Renters who were told no may qualify now. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lenders can use VantageScore 4.0, which can count rent, but the lender has to choose it.
There’s a newer credit score that can count your rent. Can I connect you with my lender for 15 minutes to see if it changes your answer?
Have AI build your “buy before you sell” one-pager, once
New to AI? Start here. Open ChatGPT or Claude and type:
I’m a real estate agent. Write a one-page, plain-English guide for a homeowner who wants to buy their next home before selling. Compare three paths: sell first and rent briefly, buy first using their equity, or make an offer contingent on selling. For each, give two pros, two cons and one question to ask a lender. Keep it friendly, with no jargon.
Have your lender check it, add your logo and bring it to every Segment 1 appointment. Or our Agent AI team at HarrisAITeam.com can build it and run your follow-ups every week.
Protect your time, and plan the order of the move
Sign the buyer agreement at the first meeting, every time. Then run a 30-minute “who’s ready” review every Monday with four checks per buyer: fully pre-qualified, agreement signed, a real deadline and one home they’d buy. Four checks means an offer conversation this week.
When a downsizer says, “We’re not listing until we find the right place. We’re not moving twice,” say this:
So the real question isn’t the house. It’s the order. Let’s meet with my lender this week, pick one of three paths and get your home ready to go live within a week. Is Thursday at 4 or 6 better?
The moral of the story: downsizers don’t need more listings to look at. They need a plan for the order of the move.
Here’s the math, with illustrative numbers
You and your buyer’s agent have 40 segment conversations a week for six weeks: 240. One in 10 becomes an appointment (24), and half sign at the first meeting (12). Four go under contract by December 31. You take two at a $10,000 average commission: $20,000. Your buyer’s agent takes two on a 50/50 split: $10,000 to you. One of yours is a downsizer who lists with you: another $10,000 when it sells. That’s $40,000, 80% of your $50K.
Be honest about timing. Cash can close in weeks, but a financed contract written after Thanksgiving usually closes in January, so confirm with your lender. Every segment is another spoke in the wheel of lead generation.
Your questions
Buyers keep ghosting me after showings. How do I stop taking it personally? (Olivia, Bend, Oregon)
Use a technique we call helpful thinking. Catch the story you’re telling yourself (“They ghosted me because I’m not good enough”) and ask, “Is that true, and does it help?” Swap it for: “Buyers go quiet for a hundred reasons, and most have nothing to do with me.” Then act:
Hi Dana, I’ve been thinking about you. On a scale of 1 to 10, where are you on buying right now?
My first-time buyer’s parents are helping with the down payment. How do I keep it from slowing the deal? (Jamal, Shreveport, Louisiana)
Put the parents in the room and the lender on the phone before the money moves. Most loans need a gift letter and a clear paper trail.
Let’s all meet with the lender this week, so the gift is documented before we write an offer.
My move-up buyers keep losing to non-contingent offers. What do I do? (Nadia, Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Make their sale real before you write. Price, prep or list their home, and ask the lender whether they can buy without selling first. Then tell the listing agent:
My buyers’ home is priced in line with recent sales, they’re fully pre-qualified, and we’ll agree to a short timeline. What would make this work for your seller?
My buyers need room for her mother. Can AI help me find those homes? (Carlos, Fresno, California)
Yes, set it up once. Ask ChatGPT or Claude: “List the words listing agents use in MLS remarks to describe in-law suites, main-floor bedrooms and separate entrances.” Add them to a saved MLS search with automatic alerts.
My buyers are moving from another province and want to buy before they arrive. How do I serve them? (Ethan, Kitchener, Ontario)
Be their eyes. Video-tour every home live, tell them what the camera can’t, and connect them with a local lender and lawyer early.
Buyers didn’t disappear. They got older, richer in equity and closer to family, and the agents with a system to find them get paid.
Your challenge this week: Build your one-pager, have 40 conversations in Segments 1 and 2, book 4 appointments and sign an agreement at every one. Then email us how many buyers had all four checks at Monday’s review.
Which segment will you call first this week? Join Premier Coaching at PremierCoaching.com. Try it for 7 days for just $1.
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— Tim & Julie Harris
Founders of Tim & Julie Harris Real Estate Coaching | Publishers of Harris Real Estate Daily | Hosts of PowerHouseTalk | eXp Realty Sponsors at Libertas
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